The Parallel Theory
by vermillion crown
Summary: She was allowed only 16 years to live on one side of the Gate. By chance, she was given an eternity on the other side-as a homunculus. Eternity is nothing but an unwanted gift and she's trying to return it. Trying being centuries of trying.
1. Prologue: Fortuitously Unfortunate

Prologue: Fortuitously Unfortunate

It was a dark street, made especially dangerous because it was hardly the safest neighborhood of the city. In hindsight, she realized that she had no business wandering down such suspect roads at midnight, but she really needed to be home and this was a shortcut. Besides, this neighborhood was familiar ground. The ghostly shadows on the identical, dilapidated brick walls didn't faze her even the slightest.

She reached the middle of a block with dimly visible, cracked cement and weeds along the crevices. Complacent in her safety, she could hardly see what would happen next. One minute, she was walking home in the dark; the next, there was a flash of pain that bled into a wrenching agony, searing her torso. She tried to keep her mind clear, tried to keep her eyes open. Her mind flashed with warnings and a desperate need to figure out what the _hell_ was going on.

Disguising her turning around as the staggering of a wounded animal, she discerned a man with a deranged smirk, wiping the blood from a knife onto his pants. "Oh, some fight in you!" the man exclaimed with delight.

Her heart nearly thrashed out of her chest in fear. This man—she knew him only in the news reports. She couldn't believe her rotten luck. "Y-you're… the Beautician…"

"Come here, sweetie, let me get a lock of that beautiful hair," he crooned, making his way towards her. He walked towards her like she was helpless—and she was.

She knew she was dead. She was bleeding out and what hope did she have of fighting off a grown man, let alone a grown, _psychotic_ man?

But there had to be something she could do_—_

She let herself bleed out like a pathetic, moribund deer. The man sauntered close and when he twirled his knife, she thanked the Deities that he was a braggart and mustered all her focus to deftly swipe the weapon. The man did not expect her to move with such agency. She swung swiftly at his throat, but the man threw up his hands in surprise and hissed when the knife bit into his wrists. He stepped back but tripped over a crevice, landing on his bottom.

It didn't occur to her to escape or call for help. Her mind screamed to neutralize the threat. She seized her opportunity and leapt like a feral cat upon the man, sharp fist driving towards his gut. The man shielded himself with his shoulder and while his back was turned, her armed hand slammed the knife fiercely into his back, tearing the flesh and catching bone. She twisted and wrenched it out as the man clawed and punched her, not feeling nor caring about further injuries on her person.

She stabbed at his face and managed to cut deep into his left eye and this time, she left the knife there. He howled and kicked harder, catching her in the stomach. She flew a foot away and knew the last of her strength was escaping her but oddly enough, she didn't mind.

She weakly yelled an expletive to the vapid audience that was the night. Then to the crescendo of the psychotic man's struggles, she faded from the world with a purple glow surrounding the buildings.

* * *

"—my fucking _God_, all this blood—"

"—someone call the police!"

"—been a while since the Beautician's last victim; that poor woman—"

"—excuse me; police on the scene! Ma'am, I need to step away—"

"—but where is the body? Or _bodies_?"

The harsh daylight displayed every last drop of evidence of defiance and struggle from the night before. Only the corpses of the girl and the man were the missing pieces of the puzzle—the pools of dried blood made morbidly detailed outlines that mocked the police and spectators…

Where were the bodies?


	2. Chapter 1: Inglorious Phoenix Ashes

**Chapter One: Inglorious Phoenix Ashes**

It was burning. She didn't smell flesh burning—thank the deities—but it felt so painful. Maybe she was in Hell, not that she believed in the concept. She really wasn't a pure and innocent person; she lied and she lusted. She had every human trait that ensured she wouldn't reach Heaven, or more important to her belief, Nirvana. She hoped that, at least, she wouldn't become a slug in her next life. Important to the ecosystem be damned; they lived pretty unfulfilling lives, and they were mushy and repulsive.

She opened her eyes. She was blinded by white and closed them immediately. It was a shame she wasn't able to shut her ears. She wasn't able to see where the voice was coming from, but she knew: a woman with a sweet, yet dull, voice droned on and on and on…… it was like a metronome in the background set at moderato.

'Water, 35 litres—'

"—excuse me—"

'—carbon, 20 kilograms—'

"—where am I supposed to be?"

'—ammonia, 4 litres—'

"—it really isn't time for Chemistry class right now—"

'—lime, 1.5 kilograms—'

"—can you help me?"

'—phosphorus, 800 grams—'

The voice began to gain a vivacious lilt. She felt a building of hatred towards the woman and her voice. Couldn't that woman tell she needed help? Unless...

'—salt, 250 grams—'

She opened her eyes. The woman's voice grew louder and more fervent. There was a breathy quality to it that made it strangely detestable to hear. She supposed it was only her unique reaction. Still, she realized that the woman did not exist wherever she was at the moment.

'—saltpetre, 100 grams—'

Not minding the woman anymore, she looked around. It was still a harsh, grating white upon her eyes. Therefore, it was easy to discern the splotch of gunmetal gray in the distance. She—jogged? Drifted?—somehow transported herself in front of the object. It was a large stone or metal closed gateway. A large and elaborate eye was engraved upon the center of the doors. Should she knock on the door? She frowned as she thought. No, it seemed a little suspicious. There were grotesque humanoid figures twisted into the design of the gate.

'—sulphur, 80 grams—'

It was a man's voice this time. She jumped at his deep, yet calming voice, but ignored it shortly. She was fascinated by the gate.

'—fluorine, 7.5 grams—'

The door started to open. She saw amorphous shapes darting part her and into the small crack from the doors pushed ajar. 'Spirits of the dead, moving on?'

'—iron, 5 grams—'

The man's voice seemed to waver slightly, but continued on strong. Somewhere deep inside of herself, she knew she should step through the gate now, but she was curious. She wanted to see what would become of the woman and the man.

'—silicon, 3 grams—'

A raucous, gray blob streaked past her and she had chills running down her spine. 'It must be the man who killed me,' she thought outrageously. He was dead, she was dead… she managed to kill him, then? Strange… the blob-soul-spirit-man seemed to have been absorbed by the giant gate forcibly, unlike the others that floated in quietly…

'—a sprinkle of lead, a dash of mercury, a pinch of cadmium—'

The woman seemed rather manic now. She felt a slight tugging sensation when the woman's voice started to imitate chanting.

'—bismuth, boron, thorium, caesium—'

It was time, or that's what it felt like. She gave one final glance to the white space about her and finally walked through the gate.

The doors opened wider to allow room for her to comfortably step through. It was pitch black on the other side, but she wasn't sure that she crossed the gate yet. As she walked, her body-spirit felt heavier and heavier until she collapsed with her head spinning.

The world was being compressed into her mind; at least, that's what it felt like. She couldn't stop screaming until it stopped, which felt like millennia later. She heard dull chanting and knew that little time had actually passed, if time flowed here at all. There was nothing for it. She had to keep walking.

She felt something—someone?—jostle beside her and she knew she had to hold onto to that someonething. She could hear the murderer's death cry resonating through the dark.

'William will be ours again, my love.'

'Yes... this time, we can't let him go.'

* * *

By now, she was no stranger to pain. Her limbs shouldn't be in whatever position they were in now; she felt like her lungs were on her toes that grew out of her spine which was connected to her shoulder. She dared to open her eyes. She was in a beautiful antique laboratory, full of gadgets and gizmos and with candles lit along the walls. Then she saw the floor.

Blood was everywhere. She looked up (or down, it felt like both at the same time) and saw the horror struck faces of a beautiful couple: a man with black hair and glasses, and a young woman with mahogany curls and porcelain skin. She tried to open her mouth and talk, but something caught in her throat, which felt like part of her arm that was attached to her kneecaps with teeth growing out of them. She could only gurgle like a demented, choking animal. Her eyes shifted and met with another pair. She noted with sheer terror that the other pair of eyes was attached to a head that was twisted about an emaciated torso with ten broken limbs spayed about and flesh hanging off its skull. She realized that she was probably not better off and began to gurgle (trying to scream) in earnest.

"There were two? There must have been some mistake… Don't cry, William, Mother's here!" She made for the other blob, apparently named William. "Where would have the other one come from?" 'The Other One' laughed in her mind, through the pain. She came because of these two, why else? She lamented the fact that she couldn't tell them her name.

"Dante, get the hell away from them!" The man paced back and forth. "What have we done? We've perverted our child—children into these inhuman fiends!" He stops. "I—I can't deal with this. I-I need to leave. I'll be back."

"Hohenheim! Hohe-wait!" The woman, Dante, left the room in the wake of the man named Hohenheim. She turned her ugly, bulbous eyes unto her equally ugly and bulbous companion William. Blood started to drip into her vision, irritating her. William made eye contact again and she saw the disbelief, horror, and sadness that created a pit for the decaying thing. 'Of course he's male,' she thought with amusement, as she saw the blob focus his emotions into anger. 'Boys make everything easier by getting angry… most of the time.'

She tried to move in her deteriorating and bleeding flesh amoeba, and managed to scoot closer towards the other angry flesh creature. He turned his eyes away in frustration, clearly not willing to be comforted but unwilling, or unable, to move away.

The candles had long since melted away. They stayed in their positions for an extensive amount of time. There was no access to any windows so there was no indication of the passing time except for a loud 'tick-tock' from the grandfather clock hidden out of sight. The monotonous sound drove her crazy. William seemed to have become a mass of anger, frustration, and hopelessness, but he did allow her to slightly bump her bleeding skin with his numerous limbs for comfort.

Finally, the door opened again and the woman Dante stepped inside without the man Hohenheim. "Sorry," she whispered. Dante was crying. Dante carried a bag of what seemed to contain the source of gravity; it was pulling all her senses towards the contents of the bag. Dante noticed the eagerness and seemed encouraged. "You can think… you are alive. I won't let Hohenheim make me give up hope, I just can't. He may have abandoned you—" she timidly reached over to pat both his and her bleeding skull-heads, "—but you two are my children." She opened the bag and pulled out two lustrous, burgundy stones. She fed one to each of the bleeding flesh lumps and after a few moments, Dante shrieked and leaped backwards.

She felt it happen. Her hands started to mold themselves properly and took shape. Her ear was finally removed from her backside and the third stomach in her leg turned into a liver, which pushed itself into its proper place. Hair decided to grow correctly and she had a style that was short and messy in the back, but longer in the front and with a fringe that swept to the right. When she felt her feet were shapely enough to stand on, she got off the ground and realized that she was naked. She didn't turn around due to embarrassment and the realization that William was a boy in the buff. Dante didn't care and grabbed her and William in a fierce embrace.

"My children, oh, my beautiful children…" Even though Dante was warm, she couldn't help but feel chills.

* * *

Dante took the boy first. The woman seemed hell-bent on lavishing extreme attention on both of them that she was only able to clean the two up one at a time. She fawned over William, dragging him out to god-knows-where and left her all alone in the blood. That was fine since it didn't smell too bad and being brutally murdered left her quickly inured to the sight of blood. Her new body simply didn't retch at the sight of it, nor did it react to the mass of leftover organs on the ground. She poked a heart. It sputtered out a bit of blood pathetically.

The door swung open again and Dante was accompanied by a now-clean and dressed William. He was tall, lean, and well-built; his sharp jaw and face was framed by long, black hair tied up in a ponytail and violet eyes shone nervously from under his fringe. His clothing was dark and simplistic, but obviously aristocratic. He grinned as he neared his still naked and dirty acquaintance. "Hey, my incognito twin."

She snorted and reached over to smear blood and goop onto his new clothes. Dante quickly grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her out of the room. "Now, dearie, you shouldn't get your brother dirty after I just cleaned him up," she chided softly. "It's so strange that there are two of you, but let blessings be blessings; I wanted one child back and received two! Fortunately for you, your father had extra materials on hand—"

She didn't speak. Let strange Dante and Hohenheim think that they were her parents… well, technically, they did create her in this world. She somehow just knew: she was a vanished twin during Dante's pregnancy. It felt strange that she had this knowledge, but it never occurred to her that it might just be a hyperactive imagination—she felt it was right with every fiber of her being, truly. Thinking more on the origin of her thoughts, she heard a whisper in her mind, 'The Gate…' What was the Gate? She sniggered mentally. Of course, it had to be that ugly stone-metal door that was the crossing between worlds. What did that thing have to do with anything, anyways?

Dante stopped and she nearly bumped into her 'mother'. The woman turned around and pulled her forward gently. "Step into the tub," she ordered.

The water was almost scalding, but it felt wonderful to her. Dante encouraged her to slide deeper into the water. "I should probably give you a name… You're such a beautiful young girl; I'm not just saying that because you're my child—" Dante poured hot water over her head.

"—there; lucky your hair is so short… it was such a pain to wash out all of the blood from William's head," Dante chattered happily, rubbing a strange substance into her hair. She supposed it was this world-place-time's equivalent to shampoo, so she sat still in the tub.

"—and a lot more well-behaved than William, too." The shampoo-substance was rinsed out. "I think you should be named Adiel. What do you think?"

She thought that she finally had a name; she didn't feel like using her real one. "Adiel," she said softly and smiled. Dante's face flushed in happiness.

"You like it? I've always wanted a daughter—you have your father's cheeks but my nose; oh, forgive me for being overzealous with you, Adiel," she said breathlessly.

"No—" she was going to say 'No problem', but it didn't feel right to speak like she used to speak. She shrugged instead. "There is nothing to forgive, Mother."

Dante hummed and made Adiel stand up. She poured more water to rinse off Adiel's soapy body and prodded her out of the tub. "Here, Adiel, hold up your arms." She did as she was told absentmindedly but blushed with shame when she realized that Dante was helping her get dressed.

"Mother," she protested. It felt foreign to say that word. Back in her other life, Adiel was—for lack of a kinder phrase—an irreverent brat towards her real mother. She was hardly one to call her mother 'Mother' so formally. Mostly, it was a 'Yo, Ma, I'm goin' out!'

"Hush; I've always wanted a daughter to doll up," Dante cut her off giddily. The mother then dragged her reluctant daughter towards a vanity table. "Sit down." Adiel scowled when she caught sight of her lacy, yet tasteful, dress in the mirror. Pretty or not, she really wasn't a dress type of girl.

"Do I need to be in a dress?" Adiel couldn't help muttering. Dante 'tsk'ed but smiled with mirth. Adiel's hair was attacked with an antique brush, which hurt despite the shortness of her hair. The Adiel in the mirror wrinkled her nose and stopped to stare at her face. It looked a lot like William's, but the cheeks were gaunter albeit not unhealthily; she had the same dark hair and violet eyes as her 'brother'; what struck her was how pale her skin was. Adiel looked nothing like she used to before her 'death'. Her oriental features seemed to have disappeared. The only thing still similar on her face was the shape of her eyes—they were still narrow, elegantly sharp and framed with delicate lashes. She was slightly happier upon noting that fact; her eyes were her favorite facial feature. Suddenly, Adiel's vision was obscured by a powder puff.

"Ack!" She was not used to someone else putting on makeup for her. Only Adiel was allowed to touch Adiel's face, not other people, thank you very much. She helped others put on their makeup, as well; never reversed. It made her feel like a child again. Dante seemed to sigh at her unruly daughter. "A young lady needs to be presentable at all times," she chided, evading all attempts to block the powder puff. Adiel didn't groan audibly, but her fire left. She stared forward, eyes meeting the mirror yet not really seeing her reflection. The shock of the whole Gate-to-now events wore off and she started to become curious. Wasn't she supposed to be dead? She doubted that reincarnation worked like what happened to her—she really wasn't 'born'. What was she? Her chest seemed to clench uncomfortably and she felt slightly hollow.

"Come on, get up," Dante ordered. She happily dragged her daughter out of the room and back to the laboratory, where she had left William. Adiel let her curious eyes roam the halls, intent on gleaning all the information she could as to her whereabouts. Everything seemed antique yet… there was little age to them. She couldn't describe it exactly, but it seemed like the decorations were new. Maybe she was in a house with history fanatics. They talked strangely, as well; much more formal and sharp. Adiel almost winced at Dante's heavy speech. It felt foreign on her tongue, but not just the diction. This place, wherever it was, was a lot different. She shook her head minutely; too many thoughts for a day.

Dante reached the laboratory and pushed the door open with poise and grace. Adiel looked on enviously and smiled ruefully. '_I've never seen a woman walk like that back—back home._'

"William? Come over here." Dante's sharp voice called over her new twin brother. He strode across the room easily, now comfortable in his clothing. "Properly greet your sister Adiel."

William smirked and held out his hand. Adiel stuck hers out hesitantly, expecting a handshake. Instead, he took her hand and brushed his lips against her knuckles. "Pleasure to finally meet you," he drawled, noting the discomfort in her eyes.

Adiel sneered, knowing Dante couldn't see her face, and replied, "Same." Dante smiled and led the two into a parlor. William and Adiel leered at each other, but started giggling. Their mother left them in the room and went to bring them food.

Adiel watched William out of the corner of her eye and sat idly. She noticed that he was doing the same. Both seemed insistent that the other speak first. William's feet started tapping the very instant Adiel's hands fiddled with each other. Finally, Adiel decided to be the bigger person.

"So, what's your circumstance?"

William smirked at the sound of her voice and she rolled her eyes. She had a brother before, but _that_ one wasn't half as insufferable at _this_ one was proving to be.

"I died of mercury poisoning. It was because I worked as an apprentice to a physician—" Adiel felt confused until she realized that William meant a doctor, "—that I was trying to cure a plague, and mishaps in the laboratory just…" he trailed off and shook his head. "Did you die before you were born?"

Adiel frowned thoughtfully. Should she tell him about her circumstances? Adiel herself didn't know what to make of her own situation yet. She didn't want to add in the chaos of another person. So she nodded solemnly and casted her eyes to the ground. William walked over and held her shoulders soothingly. "You're alive now. I promise to be a loving and protecting brother, to help you through your life… provided that I am acknowledged as the older twin," he finished slyly.

Adiel smiled and swatted her twin's arm good-naturedly. "Then as the _real_ older twin, _I_ will protect and nurture you instead."

* * *

The two siblings became inseparable. Adiel was always attached to William, and William was never far from where Adiel was. Dante was ecstatic, but both twins knew she was hiding her pain behind the happiness. Their mother wilted every day.

"This needs to stop," Adiel said firmly. It was evening and the twins were in the library of the huge estate they lived in.

William was sitting on a dark armchair, flipping through a heavy medical tome that seemed to be in a foreign language. Adiel sat a foot away from him, relaxing on a lounge chair and writing down alchemy notes with a quill. She had recently come across papers detailing the science that existed here—wherever she was. Adiel was talented in the fields of mathematics and physical sciences, so alchemy—although obsolete when she was 'alive'—held her interest here. Many of the papers she had found were written by Hohenheim, her present father; that thought led back to the problem at hand.

"You mean, Mother's sorrow pertaining Father's absence?" William asked quietly. He closed his book. "I just cannot believe he ran away; that cowardly—"

"William!" Adiel snapped. Her twin stopped before he was set in a tirade. He looked at her and she was able to see the anger and frustration that she first saw in William's eyes. "We should give him another chance… it was natural for him to be scared; I was horrified when I realized how ghastly I looked—"

"—I'm the son he said he would love always," William lowered his voice to a murmur, as if afraid to reveal his emotions. "It-it just _hurt_, seeing my own _father_ look at me with such revulsion, I—"

"—that's why you should give him a chance, now that you're better. You want Father back in your life, Mother wants him back, and I want to—would like get to know him better," Adiel finished lamely. "We should give him a chance. He might feel differently now."

William was pensive and he set his book down. "…alright. That seems like sound advice." He stood up. "We should convince Mother to search for Father, as well. We shall go."

* * *

Dante seemed to wholeheartedly agree with Adiel's advice, so the three asked around the nearby village for Hohenheim's whereabouts. Adiel partly wished that the search would be longer; she was in awe at the sheer amount of nature that surrounded the area. It was vibrant and beautiful; despite her amazement, she slightly missed the metropolitan environment where she used to live when she was 'alive'.

William and she decided to walk about town separately, in order to cover more ground. Adiel was wandering near the market and noticed an apothecary nearby. It seemed like a place a man of science would visit. She stepped inside the shop quietly and nervously.

"How may I help you?"

Adiel didn't jump at the croaking voice behind her. She turned around calmly and found herself staring down at a short, old man with a pair of eye lenses hanging from his neck. He was hunched and wrinkled, wearing an apron, but had a shrewd glint in his eyes.

Adiel nodded and replied politely. "I am looking for Hohenheim. Have you seen him recently?"

The old man chuckled. "Well, that man is very private; he wouldn't like me speaking so freely about him. What is your relation to Hohenheim?"

Adiel didn't know what to say. That she was Hohenheim's daughter would seem implausible to the old man. "I—Dante, his wife, asked me to help her find him." The old man wheezed in laughter.

"Dante lost him again? Well, he _is_ a wanderer at heart, so…" he handed her a sealed letter. "Give that to Dante, dear. Have a nice day," and he ushered her out of the apothecary.

Adiel was confused with the abrupt end of their conversation but shrugged. She rushed to the center of town, the designated meeting spot. In her haste, she bumped into a man.

"Oof!" She stumbled backwards and regained her footing. Looking up apologetically, she spoke. "I'm very sorry; I was in a hurry. Are you uninjured?"

The man was jovial and forgave her easily. "No, I'm fine. It's strange to see a lovely girl such as you in a hurry. Is anything the matter?" His eyes had an appraising shine to them.

Adiel shook her head and started walking. "There is nothing wrong. Excuse me; I need to be on my way." The man turned around to walk after her.

"I will gladly accompany you to your destination," he said smoothly, eager to engage her in conversation. While he was kind, Adiel found him to be slightly annoying; she knew she captured his interest and was flirting with her using antiquated (to her) methods. She couldn't get rid of him short of kicking the man.

Her savior came in the form of her self-proclaimed older twin. "Adiel, were you held up by something? Mother was worried; we agreed to meet at twelve, remember?" William stared challengingly at the man, who stared back intrepidly. Adiel took this opportunity to quickly step into her brother's shadow.

"Nothing is the matter. Let's hurry." She almost forgot her manners until she turned back to the man with a short nod. "Thank you for your company." The twins left the man hastily before he could utter a word.

William seemed disgruntled. "I didn't like that man."

Adiel almost snorted. "I just bet," she retorted dryly. While she never had a protective older brother, she used to have an abundance of elder cousins, poised to tear into any human male that dared to touch their 'precious baby cousin'. Adiel shivered. No wonder she never dated.

William scowled. "Were you accepting his advances?"

This time, Adiel _did_ snort. William looked aghast at her unladylike action before letting out peals of laughter. Adiel tried to look affronted, but failed to keep her mirth in. "No, I was looking for an escape route long before you showed up," she admitted.

William hugged her quickly with one arm. "You had the option of kicking him," he chided her. Adiel shoved him lightly.

"I was debating that. You must be tapping into our twin mental link," she replied smoothly. William laughed.

"Mental sounds about right, describing you."

"I won't deign to answer that."

"You just did."

Dante found the two locked in verbal warfare and pulled them apart lightheartedly. It seemed like she was truly happy to see her children bonding. "Did you two find any information on your father?"

William shook his head but Adiel pulled out the sealed letter, handing it to Dante. "The apothecary had this in his possession; he requested that I delivered this to you."

Dante broke the seal and the three family members crowded around the piece of paper. It detailed Hohenheim ordering a large amount of certain materials to be delivered to another town. Dante smiled after reading the letter. "Your father and I have another manor in that town. We can reach it within two days. We should go back to the estate and pack. Come, William, Adiel!" Dante folded the letter and tucked in into the collar of her dress.

Adiel was able to discern the heading of the letter right before it was folded. The date was slightly smudged, but the year clearly read 1514. Adiel felt her breath hitch in her throat.


	3. Chapter 2: Many Betrayals

**Chapter Two: Many Betrayals  
**

Adiel was quiet the whole way back to the manor. William, using his twin senses, understood she had many thoughts to digest and didn't push her into conversation. Instead, the two twins absentmindedly listened to their mother's chatter; both of them knew that Dante's ostensible cheer was merely a mask for her almost overpowering anxiety.

'_Why would one go back into the past if they died? Does the Gate send you back…_,' she stopped mid-thought. The Gate threw an answer at her faster than she could ask the question. Adiel could feel her head burn with extraneous knowledge that she promptly tried to forget. '_Stupid Gate… it's not supposed to. But as a stupid coincidence, it took me. But why?_' If the Gate had a voice, the thrice-damned thing would be sniggering at Adiel's confusion. She decided to save her sanity once more by putting her thoughts off till another time.

The family sans father made it back to the manor in a short amount of time and immediately started to pack. Adiel brought out a large, black, leather bag and began to unceremoniously shove dresses inside. Really, she had nothing against dresses, but her legs were just used to being covered up. After her 'death', Adiel's hypersensitivity to the cold seemed to have disappeared among other traits (like needing to shave her legs; it made wearing dresses seem _safer_).

Aside from too much information, she was unable to sleep any longer. This development upset her deeply, much more than it did William; sleep was her method of escaping daily life (albeit an unhealthy method). Her first few nights were spent restlessly trying to let her body shut down and ease into the relaxed rhythm of sleep. After a week or so, she ensconced herself in William's room to talk, read, play games, or just to enjoy each other's company. Dante had yet to know about the twins' situation.

Adiel finished off with tossing a light cloak into the bag. She quickly exited her room and headed downstairs, where the foyer was. William was already waiting impatiently.

"Mother still has business to take care of," he said, answering her barely-formed question. Adiel refrained from rolling her eyes. Was he like a miniature Gate or something, predicting her questions similarly? She rather not think about that hideous structure at the moment, so Adiel looked around for potential sources of amusement sans her brother.

Adiel didn't have the time. Dante burst into the room, dragging large truck after large trunk into the room. William immediately leapt to help her and Adiel followed at a slower pace. The two managed to pull five mahogany trunks into the foyer. Adiel patted her nose, slightly confused that it wasn't moist with sweat like when she usually carried heavy things. She shrugged—and pouted when Dante scolded her for such unrefined behavior. Her new body was so _strange_. She hardly felt tired at all.

"We need to be off, dears," Dante called out. William and Adiel sulkily dragged her trunks outside.

* * *

Dante was humming cheerily while the twins were pensively staring at the passing scenery. They were sitting on the back of a rickety wagon pulled by horses. An old man was steering.

"Have you traveled much, William?"

"Not really… have you—" he stopped, remembering that she hadn't lived long.

Adiel didn't notice that and thought he finished his question. "Yes, I have."

William looked extremely puzzled. "When would you have the opportunity to travel?" Adiel's eyes widened with shock and she then bit her lip with trepidation. She couldn't believe that she slipped already. It had only been two months. As a young girl—she would loath to admit—gossip was an integral part of her life, so secrets, except for life-or-death ones, didn't stay as such for long. Maybe it wasn't a bad thing for William to know. And besides, who else could she trust in this world-time, if not him? As her twin, he was already proving to be unusually loyal and close to her in such a short amount of time and vice versa.

"I'll talk to you when we get to the other manor," Adiel hissed, taking care to not alert Dante. The woman had a frail happiness about her, and she didn't want to give something new for her mother to worry about.

William nodded with complete understanding and turned back to stare vapidly at the trees. Time passed with no dialogue between the family members.

* * *

The old man giving them a ride stopped at the nearest town for the night and rode off. Dante said that they would have to get a new coach in the morning, and that they might as well spend the night at an inn. Again, Adiel and William had to drag the trunks up a flight of narrow stairs and into a tiny room for their mother. The twins each had their own room on both sides of Dante's room. While their mother went downstairs for a drink and supper, the twins sequestered themselves in Adiel's room to talk.

"Well, what were you talking about then, Adiel?" William asked immediately, unable to hold in his curiosity.

She worried her lip and tugged on her hair. "Umm… well, I… I _lived_ before I died, you know?"

William did not know. He gave her the most puzzled look anyone could have on their face. "Would you like to elaborate more?"

"Well, I may not have lived in _this_ body, but my spirit was in another body before it… died," she finished lamely. William snorted.

"Are you sure that you didn't imagine things? Really, another life…"

"Not as outrageous as being _brought_ back to life," Adiel pointed out. William frowned.

"I don't like it when you have a point._ I'm_ supposed to make the most sense," he whined. Adiel rolled her eyes and looked down snootily towards her brother.

"Well, I've found kindness in my heart to _let_ you make sense," she retorted.

William started laughing. "_That_ didn't make sense." Both collapsed in gales of laughter but regained control after a few moments.

"Keep explaining," William implored.

Adiel closed her eyes. She thought back to _that night_, and once she remembered details, she reached further back in her memory. "I lived sixteen years in this other place… it was much more futuristic than now—but I suppose it was the year was 2010 and it is 1514 now." William was enraptured.

"Tell me about your life."

"You believe me?" Adiel looked at William incredulously, but an indignant squeak from her brother prompted her to continue. "Let's see; I had a regular family… a mother, a father, and a younger brother—plenty of older cousins. I lived in a city—it would be the size of ten towns put together with the population of fifty towns. I visited other countries, I wasn't rich or poor; I was sixteen, I went to school to study for university—"

"—you actually went to school?" William interjected, shocked. Adiel looked surprised. William shook his head. "Now I really know you're probably not making this up; girls have never received a formal education in the past and now," he explained.

Adiel's eyes lit up. "Was that why you used to look at me strangely when I read alchemical texts in the library?" William nodded, but gestured for her to go on.

"Right… I _died_, causing me to appear in this world-time-place," Adiel concluded.

William looked disappointed. "That's it? You just died?"

"No, I was murdered by a serial killer nicknamed The Beautician; he cuts shapes into girls and chops off their hair," Adiel explained calmly, not betraying the tangled mess of emotion in her head. William noticed but pressed her on—better to make her think about something else than mulling over bad memories.

"Well, how did you get here?"

"I walked through the Gate. Didn't you see it too, when you died?" At William's confusion, Adiel decided to elaborate. "There's this gate, you see… one's spirit seems to go there after they die. My guess is that it filters out spirits between the worlds; it hasn't exactly answered my questions pertaining it," she grumbled. "Something messed up and I was sucked into here with _you_." Adiel looked away, afraid of William's reaction. She wouldn't admit it, but she grew rather attached to her new brother and didn't want to scare him off.

William responded quietly. "I really don't know what all of that will do to anything now, but it doesn't change the fact that you came here as my sister and it'll stay that way." She turned back to him, eyes full of wonder. He frowned. "I wish I could remember as much as you… everything seems fuzzy, except for key memories, you know? Like whom my parents are, my name, age, and when… when I died."

Adiel was worried. "What about other things? I thought you were an apprentice physician… you remember your medical studies, right?" William nodded, perplexed.

"It's strange… I-I haven't told you yet, but… I'm afraid that I'll end up forgetting myself one day."

He was hugged by Adiel. "If you do, I'll be there to remind you," she promised solemnly. "As long as you'll always accept me as your sister, and I'll always accept you as a brother, even though it's been such a short time—"

William cracked a smile. "No need to make a speech! Besides, you're the only one who has the same problem with their body," he gestured, "and I don't want to deal with this alone. So thank you for telling me your secret. I promise to never tell."

"Same promise for you." Adiel held out her pinky. "I know this is childish… but pinky-promise?" William cocked his head in confusion. "That means we entwine our pinkies and shake our hands as a gesture of our word." William rolled his eyes and did as she requested, but Adiel knew without seeing that he had a tiny smile on his face.

* * *

There was little to note for the next day and a half of travelling. The family finally reached their destination and left their things at an inn for the time being.

"See up there?" Dante pointed towards the mountain that overshadowed the town. "We have a large estate up the mountain. Your father should be there…" she trailed off. Neither William nor Adiel replied, both nervous and scared.

The trek up the mountain was silent. Out of the three, Adiel was the only one to relax and observe the surroundings. She realized that she didn't have the emotional attachment that Dante and William had towards Hohenheim, so she supposed that she really had nothing to be anxious about.

They reached the manor as the sun started to set. Adiel still had yet to feel fatigued and it was starting to nag at her. It wasn't like she _enjoyed_ being tired, but it felt so foreign and wrong. She knew that William had put little thought into it—one look at his troubled face showed that he was concentration on the reunion with Hohenheim instead. Adiel hoped for William and Dante's sake that her _father_ wouldn't ruin his last chance to reconcile…

Adiel almost toppled over in surprise and pain. William had stopped walking in front of her and she crashed headlong into him. Her nose was slightly sore, but the pain dissipated soon. She looked up in awe. As she was from a bourgeoisie background, opulence still overwhelmed her—the manor was a work of art. Doors were beautifully embossed with designs; the iron-wrought gates were delicate and elaborate… Adiel felt her head spin. She laughed at herself mentally. Wasn't she used to the other manor? She hummed to herself when she realized that she rarely went outside for the past few months.

Dante waited at the side while William single-handed pushed the large gates open. Adiel saw that he hardly broke a sweat. The three of them walked towards the front door briskly and stopped short. The door was made of a thick, dark wood. There was no knocker on the door—Adiel assumed the visitors pulled the tarnished chain that hung down from the roof.

Neither Dante nor William was willing to pull the chain. Adiel saw that it was going nowhere, so she stepped up to the intimidating front door and quickly gave the chain a sharp tug before stepping back behind William. She supposed that she lied to herself when she thought she wasn't nervous.

A few grueling moments later, the door was pushed open with ostensible trepidation and Hohenheim popped his head out. He took one look at his callers, debated whether to slam the door shut or not, but ended up cracking the door open a bit more to allow access. "Come in."

Dante strode into the foyer with caution while William sauntered with a blank face. Adiel always stayed a few steps behind her brother, not really understanding her part in this reunion.

"Well, Hohenheim; you said that the experiment was a failure, but you see the result behind you now," Dante gestured to her children gracefully. Adiel and William wrinkled their nose in unison at the word 'experiment' but let it pass.

Hohenheim stood imperviously, eyes staring and appraising the forms of his offspring. William was beginning to lose patience. "Why did you leave us? Why did you abandon Mother?" Adiel heard the hidden part in the message: _Why did you abandon me?_

The man was suddenly overcome with emotion. "William, my precious son," he wept, sweeping William into a fierce hug. "You're alive again… you'll live again."

William stood still until the embrace ended. "Now you decide to play the loving father," he spat. "I want to know _why_ you left. Give me a reason to forgive you; give a reason—" he looked back "—for Adiel—" he shoved his sister to the front of him "—to forgive you for not being her father as soon as she was born into this world. And apologize; we deserve at least _that_ much." Hohenheim looked curiously at the girl and Adiel stared back intrepidly.

She saw a more mature jaw line of William's on his face; Hohenheim's faint brows were on _her _face (the last she looked in a mirror), but that was all the obvious features they had in common that she could discern. Hohenheim had a thin, sharp face and a lanky body. His dark hair was kept in a long ponytail—he obviously kept it well but couldn't be bothered to cut it. His glasses gave him a scholarly air. She just noticed now, but the same flowery scent hung around him as did Dante. Perfume?

"Adiel," he murmured, tasting the name for the first time. The man's voice was soft but not weak. Hohenheim smiled wearily at her. "I've always wanted a daughter—"

"—stop this!" William was scowling. "How can you act like _nothing_ happened? You can't just _pretend _that you didn't run away!" Dante sent her son a sharp glance that preempted his tirade.

"William, _please_—" she stressed on the word 'please' "—forgive your father." She turned to Hohenheim and smiled. "Yes, we have a daughter; we had her all along. We're blessed as a family, aren't we, Hohenheim?"

Adiel's father was still staring at her with wonder. "Lost before childbirth, then…a daughter," he said, smiling. William was seething at Hohenheim's unrepentant attitude towards his sister. Dante alternated between shooting warning glances at William, smiles at Hohenheim, and urging, reproachful looks at Adiel.

Adiel said nothing, but she did not reject the warm affection Hohenheim was giving through his gaze. She had little feelings on the situation; in her heart, her father was the one she left behind when she died—Dante was second to her real mother, but yet still a _mother_. Hohenheim hadn't stayed around for her to recognize him. She wanted to give him a chance: one, because of Dante's longing for her lover (they didn't seemed to be married); two, because she knew that, even without apologies, William wanted his father back in his life—he would praise Hohenheim for his accomplishments and brilliance during their nightly discussions; three, she felt that if she had a chance to live in this life, she might as well have a father.

Dante, William, and Hohenheim were waiting for Adiel's next move. If she decided to not forgive—

"Hmm," she sounded out. There really wasn't anything she could have said. It made her sound grumpy so Dante practically dragged her inside the manor, past William and Hohenheim, past two corridors, past the stairs, and into a commodious room with a luxurious, queen-sized bed and shoved her under the covers.

"You must be tired from the journey, Adiel," Dante commented briskly. She patted Adiel's face and smiled. "I'm very glad that you decided to be more mature than your brother pertaining this—" Dante pulled the covers higher over Adiel's body "—and all I ask is just to have a big heart for your father; as a man, his mistakes will be numerous," she said conspiratorially, a small smile gracing her lips. "What does matter is that your father is always willing to try. Isn't that more important?"

To Dante's imploring gaze, Adiel could only affirm her declaration. Dante smiled gratefully at her nod and, patting her head one more time, left the room with a resounding snap of the door. Adiel sighed. She supposed that she should _try_ to force herself to sleep for the umpteenth time, despite knowing how impossible it was.

* * *

She didn't know how, but days managed to flash by into weeks, melting into months, and flowing into years. Gradually, William warmed back up to Hohenheim. Gradually, Dante and Hohenheim fell into the roles of loving parents. Gradually, Adiel felt that they were truly a family.

She would read and relax with William. The two of them spent their time walking idly in through towns and villages. During the summer, William persuaded Adiel to swim with him. Adiel was very leery of swimming, despite enjoying it very much—the time period she was in now did not have _swimsuits_. What she considered skinny-dipping was natural and common. William solved her problems with a big shove into the nearby lake; her layers of dresses and petticoats and stockings made her sink like a rock until she twisted out of them to swim to break to the surface. William found that his medical books mysteriously disappeared the next week, and had to hunt through the daunting bookcases of the manor library (which was as big as a ballroom).

Dante was adamant that Adiel should learn more lady-like behaviors, such as sewing and embroidery. Adiel was constantly reminded to "—stand straight, chin up, and for heaven's sake; _please_ don't _stomp_ through the halls!" She took it in stride and enjoyed the peaceful times that she spent lounging with Dante, quietly working on some sort of embroidery or just looking at nature in the garden.

Though Adiel knew that Dante was very inclined towards science, Dante left Hohenheim to connect to Adiel on that level. Hohenheim was pleasantly surprised to hear his daughter's well-formed opinions on various alchemical practices that he had written treatises about. He started to educate her on alchemy in earnest. Adiel proved to be quite adept with the science, but she knew that most of her ease was due to knowledge gleaned from the Gate. The Gate only provided wisps of knowledge, so she still had to actually learn. William did not participate in these alchemy lectures because he would rather learn about the medical field. Another reason was that the family discovered that William was the only one unable to perform Alchemy, not that he tried it in his past life. Still, William couldn't care less and life went on.

* * *

It was strange. As years passed by, Adiel noticed that while Dante and Hohenheim aged, neither she nor William did. William didn't care to notice or he noticed, but he didn't care and neither did Hohenheim or Dante since no one celebrated birthdays after their twenty-fifth birthday—but Adiel became slightly bothered. She knew there was definitely something different about William and her. The other day, Dante dropped a silver plate because it was very hot; Adiel walked by a moment later and not knowing, she picked it up. Her hand had jerked in pain and she dropped the plate like her mother, but when she looked at her skin, there was no burn and the pain disappeared a second later. Adiel remembered seeing William crash headlong into a thick oak branch while horseback riding. His nose only had a small cut that seemed to fade as the day went on—the bridge of his nose became less swollen within minutes. "I feel fine," he had grumbled, swatting away Adiel's worried hands.

Since she was the only one who actually cared about the abnormalities, it was Adiel's responsibility to tell Dante and Hohenheim. Something held her back, though.

She _did_ care about her new parents, but she knew she would only feel vaguely disappointed if they left. Adiel _did_ feel affection towards them, but… she knew that she rarely cared about anyone, even back when she was alive—at least, it was hard for her to be attached to adults, but that was another psychological twist for another day. Feeling a hollow pulse in her chest, Adiel wondered if she was lying to herself. What if her new family believed her to be some sort of inhuman monstrosity—weren't they experiments to bring back the dead? What if something had gone wrong? If they left—

No, William would be the one hurt the most. William, being the stereotypical boy, bottled everything up and tried to masquerade as someone 'perfectly fine, thank you very much'. Adiel saw how every time he brought up Hohenheim when he was gone, his voice would falter and his face would turn blank. William would only return to normal when she sat next to him, murmured and fidgeted with his clothes, bringing him back from his pensiveness. She wouldn't feel upset for her own sake, but for William's sake. If they ever abandoned the two of them, Adiel would hurt and cry only for William's pain. She didn't know how, but William had firmly planted himself in her heart over months and years. Adiel loved him, loved him like the brother she had left behind many years ago, loved how he would insist on glaring away every potential suitor, loved how he hated that she rearranged his bookcases as a practical joke, loved how he shoved her into the lake as retaliation, and loved how she could count on him being on her side always.

It would hurt when she saw Hohenheim's conversations with William—their father would dip back into nostalgia and ask if William was able to remember something from his first life. Sometimes he did and sometimes he didn't; the days that he didn't became more frequent and Hohenheim tried to hide his growing disappointment. William began to grow more worried.

He would sit sullenly in Adiel's room at night while she lay on the bed, diving into the Gate mentally to grasp for answers. She seemed to have been able to access the ominous structure without adverse effects to herself and took to exploring it while she was supposed to be sleeping. She told William that since he died before and passed through the Gate, the omniscient structure must have some sort of record, imprint, or _something_ of his memories. When Adiel first started traversing the Gate, she caught snippets of her own memories from the other side. She viewed them with a detached interest. The girl back then didn't feel like her now. It wasn't like she had a different purpose now—both the past and present girl lacked direction.

She found bits of William. They hardly seemed different, except that the William of the present was a little _tenser_, more anxious. She supposed that it had to do with his niggling fear of being abandoned, since Hohenheim almost did so once before. Dante didn't appear inclined to do the same, but it was painfully obvious that William was _much_ more attached to Hohenheim. After two decades or so, there were more worries than abandonment running throughout the family for the past few years.

Their country, Hylantier, was under pressure to join the new militant country Amestris. It was implied throughout the land that Amestris would have war before Hylantier caved into its demands. William felt as though he should join in protecting his country, but Dante and Hohenheim did not take well to any risk to their son's life. Adiel jokingly implied that she would dress like a male and run off to war—like the girl from a famous story imported from Xing—but Dante threatened to chain her to the living room couch. The family was left with little choice but to flee and keep a low profile as tensions rose.

* * *

It was the dead of winter in the year 1557. The borders of the quaint town the family resided in brought whispers of attack and invasion. It was time for an evacuation. Hohenheim secured passage to a province deeper inside Hylantier's territory. As moving day approached, the twins decided to revisit the nearby lake for a final time.

"This was a nice place for a while… I just _despise_ war." William's boot scuffed the rock protruding from the dirt. He led the way down to the lake the two of them frequented. The surroundings were shadowy and lively with the sounds of twilight. The twins were walking along a hilltop of dry grass and ice plant tangles that overlooked the lake. Barren trees filled a sharp declivity below the hill and surrounded the actual lake.

Adiel caught herself as she stumbled over a gopher hole. "It feels senseless… why would one want or even _need_ more land, especially such a _large_ country as Amestris? Why conquer?"

"Politics," William grumbled. "I will not pretend to understand the ruling body. I mean, can you believe that there was an edict to restrict opium poppy imports? Honestly, just because the Xingese _cannot_ control their bad habits, it _does not_ mean that others should suffer for their folly!"

Adiel smirked with mirth. She knew enough of his medical world that she could keep up with him, and maybe throw in some jibes. "Apparently, along the apothecary grapevine, the Aerugonians made a breakthrough regarding opium as a pain reliever. I shudder to think that Kaileth of Aerugo is allowed to cut people open without consequence—"

"—Kaileth is a _highly respected_ physician and … but yes, Aerugonians should just stick with trading pots," William interjected with a dirty look tossed at his sister. She smiled angelically. "I only wish us _poor_ Hylanchians were allowed to be as medically advanced as the Vyish. They put Xing and Aerugo to _shame_."

"Maybe it has to do with the fact that Vye _produces_ most of your raw medical material." Adiel threw her hands up with mock-frustration. "_I_ wish that we were as alchemically advanced as Amestris. _That_ isn't fair."

William gave a sly glance at his bemoaning sister. "Well, I heard that old crone Paracelsus _claimed_ to have found the secret to immortality."

Adiel snorted and unconsciously whipped a fan out to cover her face in embarrassment. Dante's constant inculcation of etiquette _did_ have an effect, after all. "That _man_ is only a whelp. He should just stick to his mind games; the psychology of this time is sorely lacking." William rolled his eyes. "I am telling the truth!" She calmed down. "On the subject of alchemy, Nikolai had a very interesting thesis—"

It was William's turn to snort. "His treatise on the _riveting_ chemistry of lead proved far more accurate than anything he could write on alchemy—" His sister's shriek sent his chills up his spine. William whipped around to discern the problem and let out a yell.

Adiel had slipped. Her foot tangled in ice plants vines and she fell backwards. Her body was hurtling down rapidly and William swore that time slowed down as the sickening crunch of Adiel's skull smashing into a tree trunk echoed through the night. "ADIEL!" he howled. William tore his way downhill, trying to reach his sister, trying to see if she was still alive, trying to see if he could help her at all.

A vicious red drop fell onto his face and mingled with tears that he did not remember appearing. He found her. William looked up and saw her battered head and unseeing eyes angled unnaturally towards the ground. What made the picture more grotesque was that her body was impaled by a sharp branch, devoid of leaves. Her arms draped over her section of the treetop like a morbid puppet. William felt his throat twist but his body could not throw up, _would not _throw up, even though he wanted the sick squirming in his abdomen to stop. She was his twin. He had lived eighteen years without her before, but he had also spent a few decades cementing her existence to his.

He stood under her, blood creating red tears as he cried when he felt the steady droplets ease up. Did she bleed out that quickly? He looked up, reluctant to stare her in the eyes again. Adiel just blinked. He must have imagined things.

"_This_… is unexpected." Her familiar drawl almost sent his heart into cardiac arrest. William couldn't stop staring now. Her head, while bloody, showed no sign of injury and her point of impalement was healing. He saw how the skin of her stomach looked as though it was stitching itself back up. Her body twitched as her flesh became completely wrapped around the branch.

"You're—you're still alive," William let out in a breath of amazement.

"I'm still alive," she echoed. She wiped off blood that threatened to drip into her eyes. "I-I—this can't be… I felt myself black out for a moment—"

"I _saw_ you. You were dead; your _head_ was crack open and now—it looks fine," William added in disbelief. His morbid side looked on in amusement as Adiel tried to free herself from the branch.

"Oh, just chop me down," she growled in frustration. "If I survived that and healed back up, I should live through additional pains—not that I want to," she added under her breath. William, unable to find any ax or sorts in proximity, took to climbing up the tree and kicking the branch with all his might. Surprisingly, his strength proved devastating as his foot broke through the wood and Adiel dropped a few yards to the ground. A pained gasp and moan, followed by a grumble convinced William that she had indeed survived the fall. Adiel was bleeding from landing on her belly, but the force of her landing jarred the remainder of the oversized stake out of her body. She was coughing blood and on all fours as William carefully descended and ran up to her.

"You're unhurt?" He looked at the gaping hole through her abdomen. "_Relatively_ unhurt?" He gasped as he saw her flesh twist close again, but more dramatically this time. "Your wound just… healed itself." William knew if this was any other day in any other circumstance, Adiel would have laughed at how unnerved his voice sounded.

She _did_ laugh still. "I feel fine now." She looked down at her ruined dress and bloody, yet unharmed, stomach. Rubbing her skin, she marveled at how _normal_ she felt, if that was even the right word for it. "I feel simply _divine_. Wait," she muttered. Adiel gestured for William to hand her a sharp branch that fell nearby. When she wrapped the stubby wooden spike in her hands, she stabbed zealously into her left thigh.

Through her hiss of pain, William wrenched out the branch in panic. "Are you out of your mind?" He stopped as the wound healed itself again right before his eyes. Adiel smiled and touched her skin.

"This is incredible…" Incredible couldn't fully describe it. William looked at the bloody branch in his hand and gritted his teeth. In a flash, he jammed the wood through _his_ left thigh. Adiel looked worriedly at him. "What if you canno—" his twisting flesh silenced her quickly. A smile grew upon her face.

William felt much more confused, but let the thought of invincibility rush through his head. "What is this?"

"I have no idea… maybe—we should ask Mother and Father; they might know something—"

"—that _does not_ sound like a bright idea—"

"—fine, we _won't_ let them know, and try to figure this out ourselves—"

"—that's a _much_ better idea." The twins reached an agreement.

Adiel looked back towards the path from where they fell from. They just needed to run home without being seen by locals, sneak into the house without being seen by their parents, and dispose of their bloody clothes without them being seen by anyone. Perfect.

* * *

The two of them resorted to crawling through the local flora to sneak in through the veranda in the back. Adiel pushed William as he lost his footing while scaling the railings and then she pulled herself up easily. They smirked at each other as they quietly pushed past the curtain that served as a barrier from the outside elements and into the corridor. Adiel nimbly stole down the hall and up the stairs, followed by William when a shocked voice stopped them: "William? Adiel? What ar—you're _covered_ in _blood_!" It was Dante with Hohenheim walking quietly behind her. Both looked at their children in horror.

"Are you two alright?" Hohenheim rushed up the stairs and dragged both of them down; Dante started pulling at their blood-encrusted clothing and checking frantically for wounds.

"We-ah, stop!—we're _fine_!" William said firmly. He pushed his mother away from his red-stained, but otherwise undamaged, shirt and coughed nervously when the family was totally silent.

Dante wasn't done worrying. "But—_blood_—why...?" she seemed to have lost the capabilities of speech in shock.

Hohenheim wasn't as easily deterred. "Explain. Now." His voice left no room for escape or arguments.

Adiel spoke up. "Well... I-er-got hurt... but I'm fine now?" she said with a nervous lilt at the end of her sentence. Hohenheim was not so blasé.

"It looks like a bear mauled you here—" he pointed at her head "—and here—" he pointed at her stomach "—but there are no wounds. And William—" he turned to his son now "—_you_ look like you've been swimming in blood. _What happened_?"

William caved in. He babbled incoherently about _everything_ from Adiel's fall to their sneaking in through the veranda until their father pieced everything together. Dante stared at them, her face pale.

"Wha-what does this _mean_, then?" she murmured softly.

William seemed to have snapped with momentary insanity. "Father, hand me your scalpel." He was pointing at the small surgery pouch Hohenheim carried around for his scientific experiments. He withdrew a small, sharp knife from a leather pouch that hung at his hip.

"William, what foolishness is thi—"

Dante screamed as William sliced himself on the back of his hand. She almost fainted when he sliced open the palm that Adiel offered him. Hohenheim's lips tightened as he watched their skin beadily. Their flesh knit back together. He stepped back, holding Dante upright.

"See, we're perfectly fine," William said, exasperated.

He didn't expect Hohenheim to utter what he did.

"...unnatural... abominations—"

"What?" Adiel looked at her father in shock. Hohenheim's eyes widened and she saw how his pupils were dilating with fear.

"You two aren't human! You cannot be my _children_!"

William let out a cry. "Father? I don't understand! I am your _son_!" He was painfully confused.

Hohenheim backed up the hall and let Dante drop to the floor. "You're only a human-like doll wearing the face of _my son_! You don't have his memories! You have everything else but _that_! How can you be my son?"

Adiel stepped forward with indignation. "I thought you didn't care! He remembers _some_ things! That's enough!"

"Stay back!" Hohenheim roared. He looked at the two wildly. "Both of you... inhuman... I've created monsters!"

He tried to run down the hall but Dante grabbed his leg. "Hohenh—you can't _leave_! You promised!"

Hohenheim tried to shake her grip off but her hands proved to be like a steel trap. "I only _promised_ to live out our life with our _children_! Have you even _noticed_? They haven't aged since forty-odd years ago! They don't keep flesh wounds! They _AREN'T human_!" The twins winced and fell back onto a wall, devastated.

Dante cried. "But they're still _mine_! We can use the _Stone_, we can live with them—"

Hohenheim finally kicked her hands off. "—but they aren't _mine_. I-I'm taking the Stone. You do what you want; it's your foolish choice." With these final words, Hohenheim fled the scene.

* * *

It had been weeks since Hohenheim left. The manor mirrored the desolation and torrent of negativity that flooded everyone living inside. Dante walked about like a zombie, muttering to herself about 'she was running out of life'. Whenever she had more energy than a rotting corpse, Dante would scour the manor for 'the Stone'.

William and Adiel stayed out of her way, partly due to fear and partly due to pain. They didn't know how to deal with her. William especially didn't know how to cope. He was broken at first; then his depression gave way to anger. He broke things. He broke Adiel. Adiel could fix herself, while the objects he destroyed could not. Adiel didn't want to use alchemy to fix them, either.

She cried at how William was torn apart. Why did everything just—there was no word for it. She thought she wouldn't care, but she found out how much she _did_ care. Not human... she _felt_ human. Granted, different, but not _human_? She held William as he screamed and cursed and kicked and stabbed. He tore his books. He punched her in the face. She let him, as this was how he truly dealt with pain. She could forgive him. He couldn't forgive Hohenheim.

After a few weeks, William's anger stopped boiling past the surface and slowed to a simmer. He was still apt to throw fits, but less frequently and with more provocation. Adiel started blinking again and noted dully that her left eye wasn't sparking in pain anymore from being kicked in the face. Dante finally showed herself in front of her children. She was smiling.

"I-I'm sorry, for this—" she gestured around them. "Your father—" cue William's snarl "—just..._made a mistake_; that's all."

The children were quiet. Adiel finally spoke. "Are... are you okay?"

Dante's smile grew wider. Adiel caught a tendril of her perfume. Its scent grew stronger every day. "I'm perfectly fine. I would like you two to do me a favor."

They narrowed their eyes and tilted their heads in bemused unison.

"I want you two to... help me achieve immortality."


	4. Chapter 3: Covetous Fiend

**Chapter Three: Covetous Fiend**

"Mo-mother? Do you have a fever?"

"I'm perfectly fine, Adiel." That smile wouldn't go away. In a certain light, it looked deranged.

In any case, that smile didn't seem to mean well. Dante quietly ushered the two into the parlor and they stood there, confused. William raised an eyebrow but didn't protest when their mother took his hand and made a cut with a small scalpel. She collected the drops of blood in a glass flask before the flesh sewed itself shut. Dante walked to Adiel and Adiel held her hand out before Dante even asked for it. With their blood collected, Dante stepped out of the room, still facing them and with the door still open.

"What are you doing, Mother?" William asked in a clipped tone. Adiel's thoughts were whirring at high speeds, however. She wanted their blood. Their not-entirely-human-strange blood. Did Dante think that the secret of immortality embedded itself in their blood?

Dante smiled. Adiel bristled slightly. She _smiled_ a little too often these days. Each smile was becoming more and more deranged, if Adiel dared to say so, and _gods_ why was her perfume becoming stronger?

"_I_ am trying to fend for myself, now that your _ungrateful_ father—" Adiel thought she was trying to be blasé about it "—left. He couldn't _bear_ to tell you _everything_…"

"…tell us _what_, exactly?" Adiel asked, wary of the proceedings. Dante sighed.

"About the _Philosopher's Stone_." William did not have the instant recognition that Adiel had. She, back in her other life, read many books about the fabled substance named the Philosopher's Stone. She read it in her history books, in her science texts, even in her favorite _children books_. Adiel never expected—although in hindsight, she berated herself for her stupidity—the stone to _actually_ exist in this reality. It _should_ have existed in this land of alchemy, but alchemy became an actual science for her and a fable such as the Stone had no place next to science.

William did not like how he was the one left unaware. "Adiel, what is this—_Stone_? Why do you know about it? Did _he_ tell you about it?" No doubt who _he_ was. Adiel shook her head.

"It's from before." William understood. He was fully wary of Dante now, but content to give the lead to his sister, seeing as she seemed to know more than he at the moment. Adiel looked at Dante closely. _A fabled substance… capable of turning lead to gold and creating the Elixir of Life… but I doubt that is what it _really_ does; an alchemist can turn any substance into gold with only the sacrifice of energy and the Elixir of Life… that's only a product of the imagination of an authoress… where is the alchemical principles in such a substance? Assuming that the Stone can preserve life _somehow_, it maybe—it transmutes the body? It could work by maybe reconstructing the body, renewing the cells. But no one knows of the intricacies of the human body at this time, so I doubt the process works like that, with cells._

"Adiel, you're quite clever, but I doubt Hohenheim deigned it fit to inform you of such a critical piece of information." Dante's smile never left her face, but her eyes gained a steely glint. "Where did you hear of the Stone?" Adiel felt like she shouldn't answer. Dante softened her gaze. "Did the Gate teach you, then?" Adiel still didn't respond.

William was even more confused by now. "What does that _thing_ have to do with anything?" he growled.

Dante looked at him with slight contempt, shocking both twins. "Seeing as when you two were dead, _beings_ such as yourselves reside within the Gate. No wonder you can learn and pick things up from within the Gate."

"_Beings_?" William's voice was dangerous. Adiel felt a William-tantrum in its incipience and moved to restrain him, but Dante was quicker. She dropped to the floor, her hands pressed firmly against the hardwood and glowing blue lines began to reveal themselves, weaving an intricate pattern on the ground. Adiel would have spent more time admiring the art if it wasn't somehow the course of her insurmountable _pain_. Even the pain of being created, murdered, and dying put together was not able to top the sheer thickness of the pain, pain that felt endless and just as strong every minute. There was no inuring herself to this type of pain. She heard William's cries of agony and a small, unaffected part of her mind cringed in fear for him.

She felt herself fall to all fours, feeling as though parts of her body wished to detach themselves from her, and regurgitated a river of red. Through her hazy eyes, she noted that while the color was the same, its viscosity and the amount was too much to be blood. Adiel felt as though her stomach was trying to throw itself out of her mouth before the glowing stopped. She saw William in an even weaker state. He was curled up on his side, the red liquid flowing morbidly from his mouth to his jaw and dripped down from his face. His eyes were blank and pupils were dilated and unseeing. Occasionally, a hand would twitch as to grab for something, but it would stop as though it changed its mind.

"The Philosopher's Stone is the secret to my life… and your father's life," Dante's voice cut through the cloud of daze. Adiel snapped her head up as fast as she could, unsteadily pulling up her right hand to wipe away the red trail from her mouth. Dante walked back into the room and stopped by William. She pulled something out of her pocket—a needle?—and with one quick motion, she appeared to have sewed something onto the back of William's neck. Adiel caught a glimpse of a very fine thread. William started screaming and thrashing, but his motions seemed much weaker albeit his shrieks were not.

"The Philosopher's Stone is apparently the secret to the lives of you two, as well," she mused. Adiel couldn't fight back as Dante pricked her neck with the same needle and threaded a thin, dark, translucent thread into her skin. It burned, but she didn't feel compelled to drown in agony like William. "—close enough in genetic material, so this should be enough to keep you weak," Dante muttered. The woman circled to her front and swiped her index and middle finger through the puddle of red sick in front of Adiel. She rubbed it against her thumb and didn't bother to wipe it off.

"_This_ is the Philosopher's Stone. You remember the state of your existence in the first few hours of your new life," Dante drawled idly. She was still lowered to the level of Adiel's face. "The Philosopher's Stone is a substance that provides for unlimited energy in transmutations, so that even the most impossible transmutations can become reality. Hohenheim and I brought you two back to life. Or—" she sneered, grabbing Adiel's face and fingernails digging in—it didn't hurt at all in comparison to before—and looked on with fascination as her facial wounds slowly heal. "—some semblance of life. You two are more like… human imitations." Dante inspected Adiel's face again. "It seems that without much of the Philosopher's stone powering you, you are unable to regenerate as fast. I only stopped the transmutation to leave you two enough of the Stone to exist."

So that's what it was. A transmutation … like they were objects, mere substances to use as reactants to create some product of science. Isn't that what she and William were, products of experimentation?

Adiel regained a bit of her senses to actually speak. "Yo-you sai-said that t-th-the s-s-Stone w-was r-respon-sponible for your l-life?" Deities, she was stuttering. She hadn't felt this weak in half a century.

Dante nodded noncommittally. "Girl, Hohenheim and I have existed for longer than a century. The Stone is an alchemical amplifier, allowing for the most impossible transmutations… even ones concerning the soul."

Soul? How could one transmute something intangible?

"I can live indefinitely… by binding my soul to another body. Hohenheim has done the same for many years… now you two—we _promised_ each other to live out the rest of our bodies' natural lives with our children." She made 'promised' sound like 'poisoned'. "We tried… only to find that you two most likely had lives without end as long as the Philosopher's Stone was inside you. Hohenheim was too wrapped up in his wants and desires for a proper _family_… but I know that I can find eternal life, a more secure immortality like the two of you. He had the _gall_ to steal the rest of the Stones that we've been storing, leaving _me_ with _nothing_!" She was ranting now.

Adiel spat out some red in front of her. "Now what? Why are you hurting us? What the _hell_ are you doing?"

Dante patted her head like she was a dog. "I am going to find out _what_ makes you _tick_ and you _will_ cooperate. After all," she stood up, "you want to help your _mother_, right?" Adiel _knew_ that smile was something to be wary about.

* * *

Animal. An animal was what she felt like. Whatever Dante embedded into her skin prevented her from moving, kept her barely functioning. William was the same, except he was in constant pain. The woman had the both of them strapped to a wall with chains holding them in place. Adiel was able to deduce that they were being held in the cellar of the manor. Dante cleared out the wine and shelves and dedicated the large room to her new research.

The twins realized how different they were. Time passed but they never felt hungry. Dante would sometimes tie up other people next to them, but they were _normal_ alchemists and scientists. Many of them came into the room whole, but returned with parts missing after Dante was done with them. Sometimes she would kill them. Adiel looked her _mother_'s brutality with disgust and eventually, apathy. William had pain to twist his disgust into a perverse delight, for when he focused on something else, he would be able to forget his agony. When Dante killed the poor _humans_ or when they died due to maltreatment and injuries, the stench of decaying flesh was unbearable—it stank the same way Dante's perfume stank. _Come to think of it, Hohenheim smelled the same way_. The two learned that they didn't need to breathe. While slightly uncomfortable and unused to the loss of a sense, it enabled them to keep their wits a little longer—at least for Adiel.

Adiel hated Dante. If it was just her and not William, she would be content to find an escape and never see Dante's spiteful mug ever again. But it was because of William that a deep seed of loathing was inside Adiel. It was because of that damnable woman that William was losing bits of himself—to turn from a physician apprentice to a creature of bloodlust. For changing her brother, she wanted to rip Dante limb from limb. She didn't want Dante to die yet, though, she wanted her wounds cauterized. Then she would start to skin the woman. She would cut off her nose, gouge out one eye, scalp her, slice off both ears, and hold her in front of a mirror with her single eye wrenched open with hooks, keep her from dying until she wanted to die from looking at herself. The vindictiveness of her thoughts only alarmed her slightly. _Maybe I want revenge more than I think_.

Adiel swore she saw sparks of insanity in William's eyes. They would come and go; Dante wasn't always around so Adiel could grate her vocal cords a bit to talk to her brother. William responded, but she could tell how much it cost him to do so. He still did, all the same.

She didn't know how long it was since the first day, but a long time after, Dante poked around her arm and slit her wrist open lengthwise. She inserted a small needle and used clamps and hooks to keep her skin from mending together. Blood or some liquid inside her non-human body would drip out, following the needle and plop down into a flask. Dante would religiously change her needle and sterilize it every few hours, giving Adiel a better sense of time. After a week or so, however, Dante pulled out the needle, hooks, and clamps and left her alone. She started to work on William. He was not a well-behaved subject. He thrashed, cursed, spat, and did everything he could to get at Dante. Eventually, it angered her to the point where she took more of the strange thread to stitch into his skin. The thread made William weaker and weaker, until he was mostly unconscious for a few weeks.

After she was done with William, she removed his extra stitches and moved to work on Adiel again. This time, Dante's explorations were much more _intrusive_. Dante did not bother to shield her work for privacy. She stripped Adiel down, sliced her abdomen open, and began a gruesome journey through her reproductive parts. It was a different kind of pain. Adiel forced her mind to numb itself so it felt like she wasn't all there. William yelled and raged at her, threatened her, but Dante laughed. What could they possibly do to her? They were the ones locked up, not her; they were the ones being cut open and restrained, powerless. To Dante's disappointment, Adiel's ovaries were only an imitation of the real thing and her uterus did not have the blood lining that was needed to nurture an embryo.

"Shame you can't have children," Dante commented as she messily sutured Adiel's abdomen up. Adiel's eyes were hazy and if she needed to breathe, her breath would have been labored and sharp.

"Adiel? Adiel! Are you—are you…," William trailed off, not knowing what to ask. She _wasn't_ okay. She was still alive, so there was hope. Then he snorted. Hope for what? For escape? For this stupid nightmare to end? _It's all the stupid bastard's fault!_ He seethed internally. _If he hadn't left, if he hadn't betrayed our family—if he hadn't abandoned us, _none_ of this would have happened!_

"I…I'm f-fine." Her voice was faint. Dante smiled serenely, which sickened Adiel—it reminded her too much of the kind-hearted woman that used to be her mother, not this cruel _witch_ that cut up her own children—why was she even doing this? _Was she always insane?_ A part of her laughed. She commended Hohenheim for leaving when he did. He must have sensed the depravity deep within the woman. No one could change _that_ much, unless the personality was already part of them. Adiel regained feeling of her body and winced when she realized how long it would take for her stomach to close up properly, especially with Dante's purposely botched-up suturing job. "What now? Going to cut up William's testicles?" she sneered. She mentally apologized to her brother in case she gave the devil-woman a bright idea… William's protests and invective was poisonous.

Dante smirked, the expression more suiting her. "No. It matters little. I was only curious about childbearing… since I plan to create the perfect body with yours as the base. I have no need for more children. I could always _create_ more if I ever get to that point, right?" Her levity grated on Adiel's nerves.

"Fuck you, bitch!" It had been a long time since those kind of words came out of Adiel's mouth. "You'll never get what you want!" Dante's smirk widened and she pulled out her needle and thread.

"Who knew you had such _vulgar_ vocabulary? Did you pick it up at the Gate, too?" She took her time inserting the strange fiber into the needle eye. Dante was deft with a needle from practice, weaving in and out until Adiel's mouth was sewed shut tightly. Adiel's lips burned where the odd string touched and she felt like someone was wrenching the lips off her face every time she opened her mouth slightly.

"I wouldn't move much if I were you. The hairs do not affect you as much as your brother since they are his and not yours, but you two are similar enough that the hairs will weaken you and irritate you… just a little reminder to keep your mouth shut."

Adiel kept fixing her burning stare upon the woman. Dante laughed. "It's time for a little lesson… purely for your edification. You two are not humans. It took me _this_ long to find out what you truly are—legendary products of alchemy, homunculi!"

While Adiel was more familiar with the subject as an alchemist, William knew enough about it from medical studies. "An artificial human?"

"Yes," Dante crooned. "I didn't expect that to be… but it seems like neither of you are actually alive. You _mimic_ a human body and its processes, but at most, you are only an imitation." She stroked Adiel's face, fascinated with the smooth flesh. "A beautiful imitation… I would actually prefer it if I were to be _immortal_. I wouldn't need to move bodies _ever_. Convenient…but you have flaws."

Dante stalked in front of them, pacing as she talked. "It was so _easy_ to create homunculi. I would have thought that the process was _much_ more complicated and difficult—it seems that homunculi are products of failed Human Transmutation, specifically, a transmutation to resurrect the dead. I brought in those alchemists to transmute for me; I didn't want to use the Philosopher's Stone, so they would pay with their own bodies. It is _very_ pricey to create a human… not just the ingredients, but there is an essential part missing… which leads to an alchemical rebound and the birth of a homunculus. Every homunculus I've created was unable to perform alchemy. Every homunculus I have seen… except for you, Adiel."

Adiel sneered. There was little else she could do. Dante smiled coldly. "I cannot bind my soul to a homunculus's body unless I wished to be trapped forever, unable to perform alchemy. I need to find out _why_ you are able to… perhaps I will steal _your_ body. It's no guarantee that your body will still work the same. I need to construct a _real_ human body, first. I also need more of the Stone.

"Maybe you two will be of use to me, even after this—my experimentations have reached their conclusion. I _was_ going to dispose of you two…"

William spat at Dante. "You—fuck you!"

Dante turned back to William. "Don't think that I've forgotten about you." She proceeded to stitch his mouth shut as well. "That's better. Now I can hear myself think." William's face dripped blood and his eyes were screwed shut due to the searing sensation on his mouth.

"I'm sure I can train you two to serve me well in my plans…"

* * *

Adiel blinked. _Sunlight_. She had not seen those warm, golden rays for many years. It felt like she had been unconscious for years—better unconscious than asleep, since she knew what kind of dreams would haunt her if she ever let them. _The sound of a dull knife. Hooks scraping against the stone walls. "Stop! STOP! Don't hurt William!""—I'll listen! I'll listen!" The dark inside of an iron maiden. Fire and ice._

She shuddered. When Adiel let her finger draw a line down her forearm, the flesh was smooth. There was no sign of scars, anything to denote mistreatment, experimentation, torture. Training, Dante called it. Adiel smiled darkly. She was _trained_, alright. She couldn't find it within herself to rebel against Dante even if she wanted to. Scared her shitless, she did; made her feel pain beyond pain. The winds ruffled her long, black dress. She wasn't chilled, despite the strapless nature of her clothing.

She looked to her right. William stood under the light, scowling and slouched. His hair was loose; his clothes were nondescript black robes, covered by a black cloak. Gone was the vivacious, proud young man from years ago. He looked like he was barely there. "Will—"

"—Envy," he interjected.

Adiel frowned. Dante renamed them. William had been first; he rejected his old name so _quickly_, Adiel knew that he was trying to rid himself of Hohenheim—after all, it was that man's favorite story when they were still a _family_, how he proudly declared William his son and named him. But Dante… _"Envy… it fits one that _is_ a sin himself."_ She couldn't _stand_ Dante's voice. _"You… since you are the twin of Envy… might as well just name you Jealousy_._"_ What a crack-loaded name. If she wasn't conditioned to not punch Dante in the face, the woman would have been bleeding all over her precious carpets already—

"Jealousy. Stop thinking so much." _William should stop interrupting her thoughts_.

"Envy, shut up."

Adie—no, Jealousy (Dante would discipline her if she knew that Jealousy didn't fully accept her name)—walked back inside the manor. She was done looking outside at the humans. She saw the consequences of the bloodshed from nine years ago, all those smoldering structures and ruined cities, from the Great Purge of Kristian. The religion of Kristian was dominant throughout the land except in Xing, Creta, and the Arsraen Empire. She learned from Dante that the secular radicals became weary of the grip of religion and staged a bloody uprising across all countries, killing all important Kristianic figures in one sweep. The war against religion raged and ended but three years ago. Now, it was 1666, a hundred and nine years since everything _changed_. She laughed. Envy was disappointed; if they were released earlier, he could have _helped_ the pathetic humans off each other. Dante conditioned Envy to be _especially_ murderous.

Not that she cared. As long as Envy and she were okay, she didn't give a damn about Dante and her mechanisms and schemes. Oh, wait… both their well beings were dependant of the success of her little schemes. Jealousy gave up. She was thinking in circles. She hadn't been able to think straight since a century ago.

"Damn it! _Damn_—" she looked to her left. Wi—Envy was frozen in front of a mirror. His right arm was poised to strike the mirror, but he was unable to move. _That's right; the bitch conditioned him to not throw tantrums in the house_. She quickly walked up to Envy to calm him down.

"Envy, stop," she said, knowing how meaningless the words were.

Her brother whipped around and glared at her. "That _bastard's_ face is haunting me! I _can't_ break mirrors; I _can't_ run away—what the fuck am I supposed to do?"

Jealousy minutely sighed at her brother's display of melodrama. She knew she should be more sympathetic of Wi—Envy, since she _knew_ he blamed _everything_ on Hohenheim. She partly blamed Hohenheim, as well. She also knew that Envy's total blame was unfair. Jealousy put the rest of her blame on Dante.

Envy was looking at the mirror again. He was using his fingernails to scratch at his face, knowing he would heal up to look _exactly_ the same, getting more frustrated at the fact, when… with a flash, his cheeks and his face rounded.

Jealousy shoved him aside from the mirror, clutched his face to her eyes and she raked her gaze up and down his visage. The shape of his face just _changed_. Envy was stunned. "What happened?" he asked vacantly.

"Idiot, how should _I_ know? It's _your_ face that changed. It was like an amorphous blob of sorts…"

"Wha…?" Envy shoved Jealousy off of him and stared at the mirror. He smirked. Closing his eyes, another flash enveloped him as his face morphed. Jealousy noted with fascination that Envy's nose was more delicate and pointed. He looked younger, eyes more narrow and vicious. The color of his irises was now a pale purple hue and no longer the rich violet that he shared with Jealousy. His eyebrows long and his face was pale and androgynous. She didn't see any bit of William in him anymore. He looked back at the mirror, admiring his new face. "I wonder…" he murmured, and with another flash, Envy's hair lengthened into long, dark green spines and his broad, well-built body seemed to have shrunk. Envy threw off his cloak and looked down in awe. His body was now willowy and slender. The robes he had on did not fit him anymore. He threw them off.

Jealousy hissed. "Wandering around in your underwear isn't going to please Dante. Put your clothes back on!" Envy ignored her and with yet _another_ flash, his body was donned in tight-fitting black robes. "I thought it was just your appearance, not your clothes."

Envy shrugged. "It seems like I can change my look _fully_. Wait…" he held out his arm and watched with a grin as his hand morphed into a blade. "I guess it isn't as much as 'changing my appearance' as it is _true_ shape-shifting." Jealousy's eyebrows rocketed towards her hairline.

"This… is crazy." She pulled her index finger along the blade. The appendage was sliced off and she picked it back up, held it to the bleeding stump on her right hand, and smiled when the flesh and bone reconnected. "I wonder if I can do it."

"Maybe. I would like to think that it's my unique talent… after all, you have alchemy."

"True." Jealousy stepped in front of the mirror and concentrated.

"It's easier if you imagine a specific change." It was harder than she thought.

Suddenly, it felt like a warm ripple started at her head and moved down to her toes. She opened her eyes and saw that Envy was gaping at her, now looking like an exact copy of him. She looked in the mirror. "You _are_ a boy under those robes, right?" she asked. Envy sneered.

"What, did you do the transformation _too_ thoroughly?" Jealousy kicked his shin. He kicked her back. She grunted but was still looking at her face.

"I don't like your eyes." She stared in the mirror and with a small blue spark; she saw them turn back to her original shape and color. "Good job on the eyebrows, though; I know that most _girls_ would kill to have them." Envy tackled her to the ground in fury.

* * *

They picked up their clothes after the fistfight and dumped them in their 'rooms'. The twins had adjoining bedrooms that were furnished identically: a dresser with a mirror, a tall wardrobe in the corner, a large and dark couch with a small table next to it. There were no beds since neither could sleep and Dante didn't provide one to rub it in their faces. Just as well; neither twin cared about sleeping anymore.

Jealousy was waiting in the hall for Envy to come outside. Once he did, both made their way down to the ballroom. Dante didn't go inside the room; she allowed the two of them to turn it into their 'playroom' of sorts. Before, Envy would be given live humans to kill as Dante _conditioned_ him inside the ballroom, so it stank faintly of human blood. Now, Envy collected weapons and torture machines and poisons while Jealousy practiced her alchemy secretly in a corner.

Envy took his robes off, while prompting Jealousy to do the same. She rolled her eyes and just transformed so her clothes were gone. Envy twitched at his inability to think and beckoned his sister closer. The two sat down facing each other.

"Why do you think we have the same ability?" Envy wondered.

Jealousy knew that he remembered Dante's little lectures as well as she did when they were being trained. _"I found out that all homunculi should have an ability of sorts… not one ability is the same."_ "Well, that dumb witch can't know everything."

Envy looked at his left thigh. On his skin was a red tattoo of a dragon-serpent eating its own tail and circling a six-pointed star. He looked at Jealousy's left thigh. Same tattoo. "Didn't she say that none of them had the tattoo in the same location, either?"

Jealousy rolled her eyes. "Did she ever create more than one homunculus at a time? We were born together, remember? Her little _experiments_ are lacking another variable." She made the word 'experiment' sound vile.

Envy donned his tossed garments while Jealousy shifted them back on. Jealousy had on a vicious scowl. "We have to tell her this. Remember—"

"—yeah, I do."

* * *

Dante was _delighted_ when they told her about their ability. Her unholy smirk grew wider and wider as Jealousy figured that their ability would make it easier for Dante to carry out her plans. Whatever those plans were, she didn't know and Dante didn't care to inform either of them yet.

What she did do what bring out a list of names and instructed both of them to bring her the people on the lists. "I want all of them _collected_ within seven years' time, understand?" Her sweet voice melted Jealousy's eardrums. She wanted Dante to shut up.

"Yes, Master." The woman was a lord of darkness and evil. Jealousy wished she could slap that smug face and—

"Don't you dare look at me like you're my equal, dear _Jealousy_," Dante hissed venomously. Jealousy shrank back unconsciously.

"I apologize," she murmured.

"Get out of my sight."

The twins backed out of Dante's room as fast as they could. Envy gripped Jealousy's shoulder tightly in reassurance and pulled out the papers that Dante handed to them.

"The woman said all of them, so…," Envy muttered, eyeing the list. "Recognize any of these names?"

"You know I can barely keep up with news these days; the consequences of being locked up for a century," she retorted sulkily. Envy grew silent and still. She apologized. "Regardless… many of them are notable scientists and alchemists… albeit I'm not sure what kind of people are on _that_ sheet—" she gestured to the last piece of paper "—so do _you_ recognize any of them?"

Envy looked back and forth between papers. "I'm pretty sure that she listed some of the leading Natural Philosophers—whatever they call themselves these days—from Vye. _This_ one—" he pointed at a name: Xan Feng Li (of Xing, Jealousy noted) "—he is one of the thirty-two heirs to the throne. He holds no interest in the throne because he is the leading physician in Xing; he'd rather pursue medical and alkahestrical studies than rule a country. Dante must be doing human experimentation still."

Jealousy nodded nervously. The two started walking down the corridor. "I though she wanted to make more of the Stone first?"

Envy shrugged. "She can do both at the same time."

Jealousy conceded. "But I wonder… what _is_ the Stone made out of? How is it able to provide such unlimited _power_?"

"It's not our place to question," Envy answered stiffly. Jealousy knew he was nervous, as well. He straightened his posture. "So, do you want to collect them separately or together?"

"It'll be easier together… though it'll take more time—I'd say together." They looked at the list. Jealousy sighed. "She has around seventy-odd people and their locations. Where do we start?"

Envy pulled her back upstairs. They went inside his room, where he pulled out a large map of the current world. Jealousy looked at it with amusement. _Not the whole world on there… I wonder what's beyond the ocean in this world?_ Envy took out a quill with an inkpot and began to mark the map.

"I would start with Creta first, since it is the closest to Hylantier. Xhosa Isle is the capital, so we'll go there last. Pick off the humans in the countryside first, and then we deliver them back."

Jealousy smirked. "You were planning on delivering them one by one? Not efficient… We can't carry all that but—let me try something." Jealousy moved to an empty space behind Envy's couch and with a flash, a black, powerful horse stood where she once was. She bucked and Envy jumped onto her as she trotted around his room. Suddenly, she tossed him off and transformed back. "We can do something like that! Either of us can transform into something big to transport them back!"

Envy smirked. He leapt down from the wardrobe where Jealousy tossed him. "Clever… I know what we can do. We pick somewhere to hide out… we bring our prey back to our 'lair' and keep them sedated. Then we bring them back. We can go at this country by country, easy!"

Jealousy rolled her eyes. "Try not to be _too_ efficient… I'd rather not spend much time back here."

As discussed, the twins journeyed to Creta first. They didn't bother to transform out of what Envy was starting to call his 'most-adorable-and-cute-lovely' form. Both looked like exact twins, androgynous, except for the difference between their eyes and the length of their hair. Envy decided to mimic the shape of Jealousy's eyes, but kept the lavender irises while Jealousy opted for shorter hair.

* * *

They already captured everyone except for three people of the Cretish list. One lived in the city of Lilith, and two lived in the capital isle of Creta named Xhosa. Xhosa was separated by a stretch of sea, so Envy decided that they should target Lilith first. While they wandered the streets of Lilith, Creta's cultural capital, the two homunculi were decked in the flowing, light-colored robes that were the customary fashion of Creta. They wandered the streets inconspicuously, speaking in whispers so no one heard that they spoke Hylanchian while slyly stalking their prey. Mozan Cora was an eccentric scientist. He barely stood still, he was an insomniac, and he always picked streets and restaurants that were just crowded enough, but not so crowded that kidnapping him would go unnoticed. He unconsciously gave the twins no chance to strike.

"Maybe he's onto us?" Envy hissed at Jealousy.

Jealousy almost snorted. She bought a basket of grapes from a vendor with some money she pick-pocketed and conversed with the man in smooth Cretish. Envy rolled his eyes. If _he_ could communicate with the Gate, he would be able to speak any language he wanted, too; she didn't have to show off damnit—

"Take a grape, grumpy." Jealousy prodded her brother with the basket. They were now leaning against a tree trunk, basking in its shade. "He's just _weird_. I asked the vendor about him." Envy whipped his head around to berate Jealousy, but she stopped him. "_Calm down_, great deities! I didn't sound suspicious… I asked him about the artist Mozan Cora. He _is_ an artist, after all, and in Lilith, visitors inquiring about Cora aren't _rare_."

"Fine, good job; what did you find out?" Envy grumbled. He _hated_ being useless. At least he was better at kidnapping than his sister—

"Pay attention, will you? Stroke your ego some other time!" she snapped. Envy knew for a fact that she stroked _her_ ego all the time. "He is _very_ neurotic; this is heightened by his insomnia. He told me that the only time that I would _have_ enough time to talk to him is at the gymnasium."

Envy had a look of immediate revulsion. "You mean, that place with all those naked human men? _There_?"

Jealousy sighed. "Yes, _there_. He frequents the gymnasium to listen to lectures… but he bathes there only a few times a week. We just need to follow him until he's in the baths, seclude him… then strike."

"This is a job for _one_, isn't it?"

"Unless you want me to go in there with you…"

"No! Filthy human males looking at _you_—"

"—Females can't go in there, anyhow. I would be in a male's form—"

"—no!" Envy and Jealousy were staring impetuously into each other's eyes. Jealousy mentally chuckled. Envy was still as protective as he was befo—no, she mustn't think that. It would only bring sadness.

"It's not like I'll be leering at the all the men; honestly, my _sin_ isn't _lust_," Jealousy drawled. Envy sneered then waved his hand.

"Fine! But only because I need backup… and no staring!" Typical brother behavior.

"I'll need to be the one to lure Mozan; you can't speak Cretish, remember?" Envy was about to have an aneurism.

* * *

The two walked inside the gymnasium and slipped into the changing area when no one paid attention. There, they transformed until both looked like naked versions of Envy.

"You know how weird this is?" Envy seethed, his pale purple eyes glaring into Jealousy's violet ones.

S-he chuckled. "Well, I'm _glad_ that you're not vain. I heard on Xhosa, there are female versions of gymnasiums, and—"

"—Shut. Up." Envy stomped his way towards the baths while Jealousy followed more gracefully. S-he spotted his palm-tree-ish hair walking along the hall sulkily and noted that some of the men passing by were giving him appreciative glances. _His exotic looks, maybe? I don't see how someone would want—_s-he almost lost sight of him.

Envy was moodily sitting at the edge of the giant, steamy bath. Jealousy padded over to him and clutched his shoulder. "Stop your griping. What's wrong?"

He scowled. "Nothing. This is weird. Let's get it over with." He made no move to enter the water, though. Jealousy smirked. It was time for revenge. Jealousy's grip turned violent and s-he shoved him into the hot water.

Envy hissed with shock. "Bitch!" he bit out. After a moment, he fully lowered himself into the water. "…it's nice," he admitted reluctantly. Jealousy snickered and stepped into the water, as well.

"_Excuse me, are you two twins?_" Jealousy turned around. There was Mozan Cora in all his naked glory. S-he couldn't believe her luck, being approached by him. Envy turned to Jealousy, confused.

"What's he sayin'?" he whispered. Jealousy shushed him.

"_Yes, we are. You are the famous Mozan Cora,_" s-he answered with quiet fascination. The man smiled and lowered himself into the water.

"_I am he. Permit my curiosity but… you two are foreign, am I correct?_" There was her opening.

"_Yes, my brother and I traveled far to reach Creta so that we could see all the great natural beauty that inspires fantastic artists such as yourself._" S-he was pretty good at flattery.

Mozan seemed to think so, too. His chuckle was accompanied by a blush. "_Thank you for your compliments. If you and your twin would permit me to paint both of you—I must confess, you two would be most aesthetically pleasing as models…_"

Envy could see his sister's smirk. "_Of course! We would be honored!_" They commenced small talk afterwards and Jealousy brushed Envy's leg underwater, alerting him to their success. "Just follow me afterwards," s-he whispered.

After an hour or so, Jealousy told Mozan that they would meet him in the foyer of the gymnasium. The twins walked back inside the changing room and in a secluded corner, they transformed back their clothes on.

"Let's get out of here," Envy muttered. Jealousy was female again, he noticed, but most wouldn't be able to discern it underneath her robes.

"You thought _you_ were uncomfortable? I have no idea how males survive with that _thing_ just hanging out… it made me feel so _exposed_…"

"Let's _not_ have this conversation, Jealousy."

Mozan was quick to catch up with them. He cheerfully led them to his house. It was a large, open structure with a courtyard. They quietly followed Mozan, who was too busy talking to his servants to notice if the twins were talking to one another.

"Ready the ethanol," Jealousy whispered. Envy nodded. Jealousy flexed her left hand and smiled when Mozan made his way back to them.

"_Come, my art room is upstairs. There is a balcony I wish for you two to pose on._" He led them up the plain, wooden staircase. Jealousy looked about the house with interest. Envy was bored.

Mozan stopped at a nondescript entranceway and gestured them inside. He showed them the spectacular view from the large balcony. Jealousy noted that there were many houses surrounding them. She grinned. _Psychology dictates that the more witnesses there are, the less willing they are to respond to a cry for help._

Envy was looking at various anatomical paintings with interest. Jealousy walked next to him. He smirked and said, "Mozan painted the heart wrong."

Jealousy scoffed. "You would know, after ripping all those hearts out."

Envy shrugged. "I have an eye for detail." He noticed that Mozan was at the far corner of the room, blocked by a few tables from the entrance. It was time. "Jealousy, seal the entrance."

Jealousy quickly closed the entryway with alchemy, sketching a plain circle in the dust on the table and using the wood connected between the table, floor, and entryway to seal the opening with wood. The sound and light alerted Mozan. "_What?_" He didn't have time to think before Envy leapt upon the man and pinned him down. He wrenched open his mouth and positioned his hand above his open jaw, his fingers trickling with a clear liquid that smelled strongly of alcohol. Mozan struggled and spat out some of the liquid, so Jealousy needed to help. She held her hand over his mouth, as well; Envy pinched the man's nose while shoving the man's jaws shut to force him to drink or choke. Mozan chose to swallow the liquid. The twins let him up and he staggered around.

"_I was lied to? Why… why are you doing this? Who are you?_" His motions became more and more clumsy and he finally collapsed after a few moments. Jealousy smirked at Envy.

"Good idea to hide the ethanol inside our bodies." It was genius; Envy thought to transform one's hand so it was hollow, pour ethanol into the hollow parts, and then transform back to seal the ethanol inside. They only needed to morph away the tips of their fingers to allow the liquid to drip out.

Envy grinned, pleased with himself. He then looked at the unconscious body of Mozan. "Ugh, now we have to lug this guy all the way to Delphora." He made sure no one was looking before jumping out the window. "Hurry up!" he called up at Jealousy.

She winced as he shouted in Hylanchian. _They would blow their cover one day because of him._ She hefted Mozan's lax body onto her left shoulder and sprinted towards the balcony. With a running leap, she flew off the railing and landed on a twisting green dragon that shot into the sky.

* * *

It had been two months since they collected Mozan Cora and the twins finally collected everyone in Creta. Jealousy kept them in alchemically created chains and cages, making sure they were fed and watered and uninjured for the journey back to Dante's manor.

Envy smirked as one of the men inside a cage glared balefully at him. "Jealousy, let's move out. I'm sick of looking at all of _them_."

His sister was reading through the name list. "I'm checking in case… okay, we managed to get everyone. Wait for the preparations…" She handed the list back to Envy, who folded the paper and tucked it into his robes. Jealousy then sketched out a large circle, redrawing it many times for perfection, and added triangles and a smaller circle within. She told Envy to move aside and stepped on the outer edge of her array. Instantly, a blue light flared from the lines and the cages began to change into ones of metal in lieu of stone. The chains and restraints were transmuted into metal, as well.

Envy walked around to each cage, extending his arm inside and using his hand to press unto their carotid artery until they fainted. Afterwards, he trickled more ethanol down their throats. "That'll keep them from struggling for a day or so," he said happily. Jealousy was done with the transmutation, so Envy transformed into a huge, green, serpentine dragon while Jealousy secured the cages on his back by transmuting metal rings attached to the cages around Envy's stomach. After the last cage was secure, Jealousy tidied up after her brother and herself, and leapt onto Envy's head as they sped back towards Hylantier.

The two managed to time their departure so that when they were in the air, it was dusk so no one was able to see them in the sky. Thus, they could remain closer to the ground and not risk killing their cargo from higher altitudes and the elements. It took a day for them to get back to Hylantier, so their prisoners were stirring within their restraints.

Jealousy quickly took the cages off of her brother's back and once Envy transformed back, both worked to chain up the humans in a single file line, their arms unable to touch and more than arms-length away from the person in front and back. Jealousy walked in the back while Envy took the front, just in case someone decided to escape.

They marched down to Dante's parlor, where she usually worked on her notes and studies at night. She did her laboratory work in the daytime, down in the cellar. Envy wrenched open the parlor door.

Dante looked up from her papers and tomes. "You're back early. Did you two fail such an easy task? I gave you _seven_ _years_." Her tone was clipped.

Envy gestured for Jealousy to usher all of the Cretish inside the parlor. Most of them were dazed from being knocked unconscious and shuffled around in an unfamiliar place. Dante stood up excitedly. Jealousy announced with a smirk, "Everyone that you asked for from Creta. We're taking them country by country. Much more efficient."

Dante inspected each of her prisoners. "Yes… how did you finish this within six months?"

"I flew," was all that came out of Envy's mouth.

Dante raised an eyebrow. "You… _flew_."

Jealousy explained. "Since we can transform, he transformed into a dragon so we could transport such a large amount of people. The actually flying… _seems_ like magic, but it's probably the homunculus body unconsciously tapping into the Stone for it to alchemically reproduce flying. Proof is that we can't fly while in a body that _can't_ traditionally fly."

Dante looked impressed. "It seems that I have done well in training you two. You've kept your wits." The smirk on Envy and Jealousy's faces grew a bit darker and rigid.

* * *

Envy and Jealousy made their way across the countries of Drachma, Amestris, Ishval, Aerugo, Kataron, and Vye in five years. Some countries were a lot bigger and more populous, so it was more difficult to find certain people. They only had a little more than a year left and needed to finish their task quickly, as to not upset Dante.

"Envy, since the Arsraen Empire only has one _needed_ human, it would be easy for you to just snatch her up and fly away. Granted, it might be hard for you to find her, but she's very high-profile and _everyone_ knows that she lives in the capital city."

Jealousy was trying to convince Envy that the two needed to separate in order to complete their task. That was _partly_ true… it was also because Jealousy wanted to go to Xing alone. In her former life, her culture was almost identical to Xing. She could read, write, and speak Xingese even without the Gate's help. She wanted to explore, to live a little history that connected her back to a more peaceful and happier time—a time when she _was_ human. She knew that Envy would have little patience for her to indulge in human nostalgia and rather crush cultures than admire them. He was unable to let go of the pain from Dante, let go of the poisonous chants that now dictated his actions. He saw himself as inhuman, maybe even better than a human. Jealousy knew she wasn't human, either. She felt no sympathies towards them anymore. Even so, it was fun to play pretend, even for a little while.

"I don't know… Bycarus is a large city, I hear…," Envy said nervously. He didn't seem to want to separate from Jealousy, even only for a few months (which was akin to a second for them).

Jealousy gripped his shoulder comfortingly. "You'll be _fine._ I'd rather not give _Master_ any excuse to try her new experiments on us. You saw how she tore apart that defective homunculus—"

"—I know. It decomposed right before me," Envy interrupted softly. Dante took to transmuting the experimental homunculus as a hobby, emphasizing the fact that she could _vanish_ the both of them if they failed to meet her expectations.

Jealousy nodded empathetically. "Right, so you _know_ the importance of this mission." Envy sighed.

"Right."

Jealousy smiled sadly and grabbed her brother for a hug. "I'll miss you, too, okay? I know you just don't want to say it—"

Envy shoved her off, trying to keep a sneer on his face. "Don't get all sentimental with me!" he screeched, a scowl showing through his wild green hair. He pulled on the shorter green hair of his sister, silent now. "Don't fucking get killed or something," he muttered.

Jealousy rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Good luck." She had three people to catch. All three were heirs to the Xingese throne, so all three would have exemplary security surrounding them. _Perfect_.

* * *

She took care of the Chao clan's princess first. Fan Ji Chao was spirited away at night, when she went for her midnight walk through the forests surrounding Hei Bai City, capital of Xing. The Zhang clan's warrior prince, Yi Meng Zhang, was snoring peacefully in bed when Jealousy snuck into his room and poured pure ethanol into his rice wine jar and into his mouth. He actually thought he was drinking in a dream and swallowed the alcohol greedily, effectively knocking him out. She didn't dare use the same tactic she did for the other countries; as soon as she secured the targets, Jealousy hastily flew them back to Hylantier. She had only one target left, and while she knew she could capture him just as easily, she wanted to take as much time as possible.

It wasn't that she did anything as _clichéd_ as falling in love with him. She was only curious about Xan Feng Li.


	5. Chapter 4: The Xingese Prince

**Chapter Four: The Xingese Prince**

_I'm starting to miss being human._ Jealousy wandered idly along the busy streets of the marketplace in Hei Bai City, the political and cultural capital of Xing. She would have stuck out as her normal homunculus self, so she had to adopt a disguise. It took a while to remember what she _used_ to truly look like in her past life, but that form was now her disguise. Her old human self had the features to pass off as Xingese.

Jealousy was now shorter by a few centimeters (instead of inches like she used to be more familiar with), her face softer and rounded, nose less sharp, single eyelids and less protrusion of her brow bone, longer hair, with her skin tone more… peach? She wouldn't say _yellow_, as she would use to refer to people of her _former_ ethnicity (why was it that the longer she was in Xing, the more of her old human idiosyncrasies would resurface?), but still… Jealousy put off from looking in the mirror too long. Was she always so awkward in her slight shapeliness?

She always saw her features separately and not _together_, allowing her to clearly discern every single flaw of each attribute. Her nose was too puffy at the end. Her eyes were just a _tad_ too small and narrow. She appeared to be missing the ends of her eyebrows, cursing her to a life of misfortune and destitution in accordance to her old, cultural superstitions (really, Xing _did_ bring back the human in her). And worse of all, her _mouth_ and her _lips_—those dreaded, cursed _things_—one: they were a little bit thicker than they should be to look pleasant; two: her mouth was not wide enough to mitigate the slightly ridiculous, pouty lips that were out of place on her otherwise solemn face; three: her lips were _crooked_.

Jealousy pursed those _things_ on her face as she let out a mental sigh. _Why so… human in my complaints? I guess Dante _did_ do something decent—she helped me beat back my neurosis for this long, albeit inadvertently._ Really, Jealousy wasn't one to be hung up on appearances, but _they_ were _crooked_. It was just like those paper lanterns hanging off the edge of that restaurant—the third one from the left was too close to the one on its right and—Jealousy pinched herself before growling in resignation. She really _couldn't_ win. Being in Xing, feeling the culture, the environment that connected her to her human self—she couldn't help but feel and act human again. It felt like she started to pick up the pieces to her personality that fell apart when she died.

Her eyes drooped and she subtly fidgeted with the earthly-hued robes that she wore. _Comport yourself with decorum, reme—what did comport even mean?_ Jealousy did refrain from self-harm to berate herself, but she still felt the frustration towards the rebirth of her _entirely_ humanity-produced internal dialogue. She _did_ know what 'comport' meant. Jealousy couldn't resist. She ducked into an alleyway and slapped herself. Her incessant mental _nattering_ just wouldn't stop!

Jealousy actually broke into laughter. "Xing… good thing I ditched Envy to come here, but I'm now going crazy without anyone to save me," she murmured. She rolled her eyes—now a mud brown—and stepped out of the side street she hid in at first. There was a rush of people heading towards the middle of the marketplace. She casually sauntered behind the stampede and picked her way through the crowd.

Jealousy carelessly situated herself on a cracked, stone stairway, elevated enough to see the source of commotion. _I should have known._ Her target, Xan Feng Li, was on a wooden, raised platform. He was sitting on a beautifully embroidered cushion—only the best for the Li Clan heir to the throne—and was facing a woman in front of him, the two separated by a low, wooden table that was elaborately carved and embossed. Xan Feng Li held a calligraphy brush gracefully with one hand and the woman's forearm was steadied by the other hand. He made quick, precise strokes onto flesh, placed the brush down gently, and held his hand over the markings. There was a soft green glow that started from the woman's skin and expanded outwards, drawing out a dark and viscous substance from the marking. All at once, a wave of intrigued and awed mutterings erupted amongst the crowd watching Xan Feng Li. _The Honorable Healer, the Divine Hand, the Alkahestrical Prodigy… all these titles given to one so young._ Dull brown eyes belied the keen interest that was aimed at the twenty-five year old male. _Abandoning the Li Clan's chance at obtaining the monarchy… because of his desire to be _charitable_—to _save_ people._ She didn't have to say the words for them to taste bad.

"And they all die in the end," she murmured absently in Xingese. It was so natural for her to speak the language. If she tried to dig into her human past, Jealousy remembered how certain acquaintances—_not friends, they _couldn't_ be friends now; after all, she wasn't human anymore, unable to relate to their toils and triumphs_—would claim her dialect to be harsh. Her accent fit in perfectly; it was as if she was fated to come to Xing. 'Fate, something else ridiculous and bitter to my palate,' she mused. If she dug even further, Xan Feng Li looked like the older version of the boy she held—dare she think it?—_affection_ for until her death in the other world. His mannerisms, the tranquil aura and discreet smiles, were the same. His _goal_, to heal and doctor humans, was exactly the same. Xing was out to drag the mortal mentality out of her by the teeth. _Come to think of it, she was short one tooth in her lower jaw—_Jealousy's eyes hardened at her increasingly scattering thoughts.

The Li heir was done with the woman. He swept the crowd anxiously with his eyes, gaze swinging akin to a pendulum when they met hers briefly. As his eyes turned away—_useless_—she felt her imperfect lips scrunch into a tight, bloodless line. Her eyes had the acuity to see what a human wouldn't see. _He saw me, and he has interest in me._ No matter how brief the glance and the contact, the rest of the looking was for show. Jealousy wasn't sure if she was trying to aim for anonymity this time around or not. There was only one deciding factor. _Time_. She had time to play. She had time to sort of this mess. She had time to sit down on the smooth cold stone, as Xan Feng Li beckoned another patient up to the platform, and waited until the human finished his game for the day.

* * *

The night was in full bloom when the crowd finally thinned and the Li Clan heir stepped down from the platform while men in Li Clan livery carried away his props and instruments. Jealousy was idly gazing up at the stars, propped against a street stall with her legs crossed as Xan Feng directed his men to return back home without him. She sighed. It was inevitable that they would meet now. There was no excuse to linger on the assignment and—

"You were watching the whole time, weren't you?" _Great deities_, his voice was the same, too. That smooth, yet reserved quietness; too soft-spoken to compete with most human males but a voice she longed to hear when she was alive—_why was Xing affecting her this way_?

She didn't face him. "Everyone else was, too. I'm hardly special because of interest…" Jealousy had a small smile and what little moonlight that hit her face didn't reveal it.

Xan Feng didn't seem like one for dry commentary, but his deadpanned expression was clear in his tone. "Yet here you remain while everyone has retired for the night—different. You did not greet me as standard for one with lineage and blood below my stature." His statement was not a supercilious one, but a statement of fact. If she was to pass as a commoner, her first response to his words would be to bow and address him fully by his clan name: mistake number one. "What you did _would_ warrant my offense and subsequent punishment, but… you are no mere commoner. Maybe—" here, Jealousy felt her saliva slide down the wrong side of her throat and she stopped breathing as to not choke, "—not even a normal human being."

Jealousy discreetly cleared her throat and finally turned to face him for the first time. She almost couldn't take it. He even _smelled_ the same. The human stood only slightly taller than his younger counterpart. Jealousy almost turned away. "Even though I'm but a lowly peasant, I do take offense to being called 'inhuman'. Rather rude and unbecoming for someone of royal blood to be name-calling—"

Here, the Li heir actually _bowed_ low in apology. "I mean no offense; forgive me for my impertinence—you have so much spiritual energy that one cannot help but think that you are one of the _Deities_—" his voice fell to a hurried hush.

Here, it was no longer a joke for Jealousy. She had no idea what drew Xan Feng to her in the first place, but this was it. She stuck out like a beacon to him because of her—_spiritual energy?_—no, she went out on a limb and guessed that it had to be the Red Stones that powered her now. After she threw up her stones a century ago, Dante was too stingy to allow them use of pure Philosopher's Stone as she was still too afraid to make more without further experimentation for safety and backlash.

So he possibly sensed the energies from the Red Stone, too concentrated to belong to a normal human. He called her a deity, not a monster… She was lucky that he immediately jumped to the former misconception than to the latter, _true_ conclusion. The Xingese _did_ put a lot in stock towards religion; it was practically inseparable from their culture. Jealousy didn't know how much more interesting her Xing vacation could get. She wouldn't get another chance.

"A Deity… you _are_ full of surprises, human—but let us only speak of this some other time," she murmured loud enough for Xan Feng to hear. It neither confirmed nor denied his assumption, but she let the human male jump further along his misunderstanding.

Xan Feng did earn her positive appraisal as he calmly responded. "Of course, of course… if I am not speaking out of turn, how shall I address you?" His voice was not, however, able to hide the wonder and awe in it.

Jealousy pushed herself off the stall she was leaning on and began to stroll down the darkening streets. "Just call me… Yue Lin." He seemed unsure whether to follow after her. "I'll see you again some other time. Don't look for me." She felt his quiet stare as she winded down the road and disappeared from his sight altogether.

* * *

She did not know how to properly hide from him. She was also afraid—what if others could tell how different she was? Then again, as she quietly slipped down the streets, no one gave her a second glance. What set Xan Feng Li apart, then?

Jealousy stopped in front of a huge, impressive structure. Large pillars stood on either side of the enormous entranceway, all made from wood and stone. It was the main building of the Vermillion Library of Natural Arts. There were other branches of the same library in other large cities all over Xing, which made up a private network around the country developed for mainly one subject: Alkahestry. The Art of Alkahestry was the Xingese equivalent to the science of Alchemy in the western countries, and the Wizardry and Witchcraft of the Arsraen Empire.

Although many studied the art, only a select few proved to be adept with Alkahestry. The art allowed practitioners to sense the life energy—also known as Chi—forming a network around the natural world named the Dragon's Pulse. If one was skilled with Alkahestry, theoretically, they would be able to see the energies of the Red Stones (made from the lives and souls of humans) inside a homunculus.

'_All this_,' Jealousy summarized, '_makes the Li Heir a dangerous human to be around_.' She knew better than to step into any mess without knowing about it first. Assumption: All heirs and noble warriors of Xing were well practiced in Alkahestry. Fact: Alkahestry was instrumental to medicinal studies within Xing. Conclusion: Xan Feng Li was probably extremely skilled in the art.

Jealousy forced herself to blend into a group of scholars that were avidly discussing some treatise of sorts, allowing her to bypass the severe-faced guards out front. She had no idea where to start, but she resolved to not ask for help lest the staff threw her out. Normal citizens weren't allowed in the building. What she had to look for—

There was a duo that started to make their way towards one of the side staircases. An elder man, wizened with knowledge it seemed, and a young, impressionable man were walking quickly. The older of the two was talking in a gravelly lilt and the younger was hanging onto every word. "—start with the introductory lesson. I will pick out works for you to start with, so you may begin to define the Great Art in your mind—"

Jealousy heard enough. She found her targets. Making it seem as a coincidence, she managed to cut a sinuous path to what seemed to be the beginner's section of the huge library. As the two men—apprentice and master?—settled on the far side of the room, she walked to a random shelf with an air of purpose. She took one look at the titles and abandoned the bookcase, one full of obscure titles irrelevant to her needs. As she slowly circled about to where she thought the introductory books were, Jealousy concentrated briefly shift her body in a completely androgynous figure. It seemed that there were little women in this institution of learning and she _really_ did not want to draw attention to herself. _Or_, a sudden thought, _what if the elderly man can sense me?_ Jealousy immediately grew apprehensive and morphed her facial features into ones that were entirely different from before, adding in disfigurations to throw off anyone who saw her. '_I need to leave as soon as possible._'

Jealousy started searching in earnest for a book that seemed to contain what she needed to know. The prickling sensation at the back of her neck furthered her paranoia that the old Alkahestrist was watching her with overdue but unwelcome suspicion. Finally, she spied the book she needed, but it was at the same table as the old man and his apprentice. She debated mentally for a moment before walking calmly towards the table and snatching the book up. The duo flicked their heads towards her with alarm.

"Child," the elderly one croaked, his eyes narrow with wariness, "please wait your turn for the—" Jealousy ran out of the room, tucking the text into her robes at the chest. Shouts of alarm from her behavior and from the apprentice-master duo set the guards on her tail soon after and Jealousy made a split decision: she jumped out an open window onto a fortuitously busy street, throwing the public into disarray and further cloaking her escape.

* * *

The book that Jealousy _liberated_ from the library was a well-written text, but the author did tend to wax poetic a little too often. Tired of drowning in the flowery prose, Jealousy sneered in disgust and tossed the book to the ground. She stared at the codex disdainfully until her neurosis got the better of her and she picked the book up, brushing the dirt and dust off of it.

She managed to learn more on the subject. She just didn't know how to go about using her knowledge. The only way for Jealousy to pass as a normal human being was that she needed to take out most of her Red Stones. This solution presented another problem: how was she to remove her stones safely? Jealousy looked around at her surroundings. "This… is going to hurt."

In the end, Jealousy chose to use the array that Dante used on Envy and her a century ago. She had it memorized, since it was Dante's favorite tool to dispose of faulty experimental homunculi. As she scraped one of the concentric circles deeper into the dirt, she couldn't help but ponder on the huge, superimposed symbol that was the centerpiece for this particular transmutation circle—a winged serpent that wound itself around a cross. In one point of view, the symbol could be seen as the total opposite of a homunculi's mark: the ouroboros. One started somewhere and ended somewhere, a mortal life, one could say; the other curved its body into a circle, was without end or beginning, an immortal being—human versus homunculus. The symbol must denote why the array was so deadly to homunculi: it was the very opposite of what a homunculus was and how one functioned.

Jealousy was done marking the dirt by the time she finished her philosophical analysis on transmutation arrays. Her plan was not complete yet. The array, once activated, would continue to force her to heave all of her Red Stones until she was a puddle of pseudo-organic material and _dead_. She needed to stop the transmutation somehow.

She created a rope system by transmuting the trees. Two thick lengths of twine were secured to an extremely heavy rock that Jealousy created from the ground. The rock was suspended above the ground and to two wide tree branches. Jealousy also attached a rope around her torso and tied the end of the rope to the rock, as well, using a tree branch as a pulley. She set up two fires to burn away at the first two ropes. Once the twine burned through the rock would fall and pull her body out of the array, forcibly disrupting the homunculus array by taking away its material and power source.

Jealousy nervously eyed her setup one more time. If it failed, she would suffer unbearable pain in vain. She clapped her hands and started the fires under the ropes using transmutation. Immediately after, she gritted her teeth and activated the homunculus array.

Her mind went blank as the agony of regurgitating Red Stones crashed into her in waves. She quickly fell onto all fours, figure shaking and insides squirming. Her eyes were tearing up and no matter how much she wanted to, she was unable to lift her hands up to stop the self-transmutation. Jealousy felt hours when only minutes passed, and finally, the ropes burned through and harshly jerked her out of the circle. Her limp body slammed right into a thick, rough-skinned tree and she actually bit her tongue off from the impact.

Now lacking in Red Stones, her accelerated healing was slowed considerably and left her feeling more pain and fatigue than ever, almost as bad as when Dante—

Jealousy used sheer will to jerk her head up. The transmutation circle was glowing slightly; a puddle of red providing sparks to fuel the lights. She lifted a hand to wipe the excess red water and the flowing blood off the corner of her mouth and sluggishly tried to free herself from the rope. Her abdomen felt bruised and her back shuddered from smashing onto such a hard and rough surface. Jealousy weakly clawed at the knot holding her in place and let herself drop like a potato sack to the ground.

Her protesting body was pushed to scramble towards the dying array and she cupped the red liquid that didn't melt into the dirt. Away from the ground, the liquid cohered itself and formed a smooth, red bubble between both of her hands. She slowly lowered her face to the substance, not wanting to lose control and ingesting the entire thing (thereby defeating the purpose of her transmutation). The bubble's surface bounced softly from her breath and drops of blood from her mouth. Jealousy slowly tipped the Red Stone into her mouth, forcing her throat to swallow only a little while her mouth wanted to take the whole of it in. She spat out the rest of the stone before she was tempted and immediately, the small piece of stone ingested expedited her regeneration process. Her back was rid of its ache, her stomach devoid of bruises, and her tongue weaved itself back into existence from the remaining flesh. Jealousy felt a little more energetic, as well.

Now able to think coherently, she transmuted a vial out of the ground and also used alchemy to collect the Red Stone inside the vial. Jealousy then cleaned up the clearing with alchemy and sat down on the ground, staring at the vial in her hand. What could she do with it? She couldn't exactly bring it with her; the alkahestrists would be able to sense it. She had to hide it. But she also was a lot weaker without all her Red Stones. A conundrum… she had to take it with her for now.

Brushing herself off, she transformed back (albeit much more slowly) into her human self and walked back towards the city. The book, laying dog-eared on a rock, was the only evidence of her presence.

* * *

She was back in Hei Bai City, but this time, she was walking through the private family lands. It was night, and Xan Feng Li would be at home, sleeping. She looked around, and seeing no one around, Jealousy scaled a wall and took to the rooftops stealthily. The moon was waning, its pale blue glow splashing across the ceramic shingles.

From her observations before, she knew where the Li Clan lands were. She was nearing the huge estate. Jealousy's leap cleared the last of the Ming Clan's awnings and put her directly in front of the Li Clan gates. The quiet tapping of her footsteps blended in with the nocturnal murmurs of the surrounding area.

She didn't walk directly into the compound, but she circled around the property. Stepping back, Jealousy charged forward and cleared the wall, landing with a dull thud on grass. She picked her way across the greenery and headed towards the building that the Li Heir resided in. His wing was near the back of the land—the heir's personal request for privacy as he came to age.

Jealousy reached the low, wooden residential wing of Xan Feng Li. The building was constructed out of a beautiful, amber-hued, stained wood, with paper folding and sliding doors. Two of the doors, though, were made heavily and swung open from the middle. Jealousy didn't bother with any of the entrances on the ground floor. She spied an open balcony door and carefully climbed her way up. As she slowly slinked into the dark room, she spotted a muted, yet elaborately draped, cloth canopy that was on a luxurious bed. No doubt that this was Xan Feng Li's bedroom. She quietly padded her way to the base of the canopy and parted the cloth.

Xan Feng was sleeping, his facial expression indifferent. He looked to be a human-sized doll, except for the fact that his breathing, while gentle, was still discernable. His hair was long, fanned out besides his sharp, yet distinctly masculine face. One arm, his right, was draped across his chest. Jealousy's hand started to reach out towards him.

_Hey, we're still friends, right? Good friends, right Ad—_

Jealousy's hand froze an inch from his smooth, slender, muscular neck. Was she about to strangle him? She had to take him back to Dante, but… she could just _imagine _Xan Feng saying what _he_ said. _Caden_. She hadn't thought his name in a long time. She couldn't just _give_ him up. Jealousy knew that as Ad—her old self, her dead self—she didn't love Caden. She held a special affection for him, an almost obsessive infatuation mixed with strong curiosity and desire. She had wanted him, had wanted to _know_ him, and had wanted his company and his rare words. Jealousy smiled bitterly. _Yeah, I'm still good friends with you. That's why you won't die tonight._

When you eat poison, you might as well lick the plate. Jealousy sat down gently onto the mattress and let the canopy fall back, shielding both figures from sight.

* * *

She felt the figure stir next to her. A quiet groan sounded and Xan Feng sleepily stretched and propped himself up, rubbing the side of his head. Jealousy looked at him with avid curiosity and felt something come alive within her. She wanted it—she wanted to be able to sleep, and wake up; wanted _him—_where did that come from?

The Li Heir seemed a little more awake, and he nearly choked as he turned his head and realized that he had company. Jealousy gave him a playful smirk. "Good morning, princess."

Xan Feng paled, and then flushed heavily. Jealousy admired the stark contrast between his crème skin and the red splashes. "Wha—when?—_when—you—_" the man seemed robbed of his ability to speak.

Jealousy sank into the plush mattress and sighed. It was very comfortable. "I was here throughout the night. You are a _very_ heavy sleeper."

That didn't seem to be the problem. Suddenly, Xan Feng lunged for her and pushed her out of the canopy. If it weren't for her quick, _inhuman_, reflexes, Jealousy would have landed in a crumpled heap by the bedside. Instead, she rolled and stood up, brushing her clothes straight. "Thi—this is _highly_ inappropriate!" His voice was anxious and embarrassed.

Jealousy chuckled. "Propriety, Prince?" Prince was his proper title, as he _was_ the prince of Xing… along with the other twenty-six male clan heirs.

Xan Feng pulled his sheet further along his body and Jealousy noticed that his skin was bare. _Aha_, _he's naked_. Jealousy giggled, feeling livelier since many decades ago.

"I won't peek, Prince." A heavy silence indicated that the man was flush with embarrassment and nervousness.

After a moment of cloth rustling, Xan Feng cleared his throat. Jealousy turned around and saw that he had garbed himself in a plain, but obviously expensive, robe, one akin to sleep attire. He opened his mouth and closed it again; face still slightly pink and sheepish. Finally, he spoke. "I—this is when I usually have breakfast. W-would you like to j-join me?"

Jealousy dipped her head forward in a gentle, giving nod. "I'd be _honored_—lead the way, Prince." The man shyly beckoned her out of the room and they walked down the wide open halls, each like a balcony that circled an inner courtyard.

There was a light silence, for both of them were preoccupied with the morning scenery. Jealousy looked with admiration at the structure and aesthetics of the building. She suddenly dreaded the day she would inevitably return to Dante's drab and ominous manor.

"…why have you come?" His voice was softer than usual.

Jealousy turned towards him, eyes wide with innocent surprise. "Didn't I say that I would come back after a few days? I keep my promises, Prince," she informed him breezily. He mumbled. "Excuse me?" she asked.

"…you don't have to call me that," he murmured softly. "You didn't last time." Jealousy cocked her head, but smiled.

"Xan Feng," she said, tasting the name with relish. "…I have a favor to ask you."

The man didn't speak; he seemed slightly apprehensive. But he did nod.

"I would like you to help me hide—" she took out her Red Stone vial "—this." Xan Feng immediately whipped his head to the offending object.

"Your energies… contained in that?" he muttered, shocked. Jealousy knew that his alkahestrical senses were going haywire. "Is that your _blood_? Why would you take out your life for—" Jealousy raised a hand, prompting him to stop.

"You can say that it's my blood—that is close enough to the truth." He digested the piece of information. "And… why else would I rid myself of the extra energies? If I was to blend in, I would need to appear normal to everyone, right?" she whispered in his ear. He shivered.

"I'll need you to hide this so no one can _sense _it. Can you do that?" Jealousy's imploring look made him even more anxious.

"I know where," he finally replied, "and we can stop there on the way to breakfast."

They walked into a dark, quiet room that was lit with candles and a lone skylight that beamed a square of sun onto the smooth, polished wood. Between the dancing flames, Jealousy saw a large, ceramic idol that was one of the Deities in Xingese religion. It looked so similar to the ones before her death.

Idols were placed in locations where the Dragon's Pulse is especially strong, as so dictated by the rules of the religion. Jealousy smirked. _He was clever_. No one would be able to sense the Red Stone here.

Xan Feng knelt in front of the idol and prostrated. "Please forgive me…" he stood up and walked to the statue. He held the vial and uncapped it, then tipped the whole thing into the idol's mouth. "The idol has a small hollow space that is connected to the mouth," he explained. "It's for when they construct the idol." His eyes looked at her calculatingly.

Jealousy gave no outward sign of emotion. _I will have to break the idol to get the Red Stone back… and he's testing me, seeing if I'm angry at the Red Stone being poured away. It will take much effort to recover it, and he knows. What's he testing me for…?_

She nodded to him in gratitude. Then, mimicking his actions before, she walked in front of the idol and bowed low to it. Apparently, she passed Xan Feng's test and his expression reverted back to the relaxed state it was before. He led her out and through the halls once more.

After breakfast, the two strolled around the grounds, chatting about everything and nothing. Jealousy was struck again by how similar Xan Feng was to Caden, his counterpart. His smiles, rare and beautiful, had her fall into a more relaxed state of mind. He seemed to be genuinely enjoying her company, and the subtle deference he showed her when they first met was reappearing.

"Why did you come to Xing? Why to Hei Bai City, if you don't mind me asking?" He was eagerly curious, enhancing the leftover boyishness in his face.

Jealousy twirled a lock of hair around her left index finger and let the hair drop. How should she phrase it—? "Well, I came to live for a year, and then I'll go back to my—my _duties_." Duties, indeed.

Xan Feng said it, as well. "Duties, indeed… Yue Lin," he started, using the name she gave him, "what _are_ your duties?"

"To serve my master." Dante was hardly a mother, and she more _served_ her than helped her.

"Dedication is an admirable thing," Xan Feng said, unaware of how serving one's master could be something dark and twisted.

They stopped underneath a willow. The autumnal winds were strangely absent, projecting a feel of being frozen in time—the clouds didn't drift, the grass didn't sway, and the birds didn't sing.

Jealousy turned to face him. She studied his eyes; the lashes drifting along his cheekbones with each blink. A truly beautiful man. "Why did you abandon the Xing throne?"

Xan Feng sighed. "I didn't want that life; always looking over my shoulder, fearing death from my brothers and sisters. And if I _did_ achieve the throne, I wouldn't want that power. All I want to do is heal people. All I _can_ do is heal people," he said mirthlessly.

They were silent again. Xan Feng spoke up again, but much more quietly. "Do you know of a disease in Xing?" Jealousy turned towards him, unspeaking. "It is a deadly malady that the government tries to cover up, for fear of mass panic. I only know of it because of my cousin, who is one of those that work to hide it. There is no name for it, for people just _die_ from it and nothing more. They don't know if it's contagious, where it comes from… nothing. It causes a horrible pain inside a person and their bodies slowly wither away. They hold out until one day, they collapse with huge dark marks on their chest and never wake up again. Alkahestry is unable to cure it properly, not without knowing every nuance of a human body. The Art only follows the Dragon's Pulse pathways within a human. There are places that disease can escape to, away from the Art.

"I wish to cure this disease. But I need to learn more—I need to have more knowledge of the human anatomy," he said firmly. Xan Feng turned to face her, eyes imploring. "I don't know what help you can provide, but if you can give me _anything_—"

"I will." She said those words before she could even think.

_We're still friends, right? Good friends, right Ad—_

… _yeah, Caden. We're still friends._

"—hank you." Jealousy felt her attention snap back onto the Li Heir.

She shook her head. "But I would like to relax for a little while longer."

Xan Feng hummed listlessly before replying. "The Moon Festival is all of next week. Would you accompany me then, Yue Lin?" he offered quietly.

Jealousy smiled.

* * *

The streets were loud and cheerful. There was the dark spice of nocturnal excitement that permeated the city, the nightlife roaring. The Moon Festival was in celebration of one of the lesser Deities, the one which promoted good health and happiness. It was the Deity that allowed the Xingese to have the means and purpose of living a good life. Naturally, this celebration was a little… _overly_ festive. The celebration lasted for a week and a day: the first two days for quiet praying and tributes, the third for blessings from the temples, the fourth for quiet reprieve, the fifth for banquets, and the last three days for festivities. All of this happened on the days leading to the Autumnal Equinox, when the moon was in balance with the sun.

It was the final night. Xan Feng stepped down the stone road in hushed excitement; a porcelain mask tied around his head protected his identity. He wanted anonymity this night, for this was the night where even debauchery was forgiven, but still not forgotten. Everyone wore masks on the last day.

Jealousy was against his side, an elaborate pair of goggles obscuring her eyes and the upper half of her face. Her mouth had a scarlet smear of rogue on her lips, the red splitting into a large grin. "Where next?" she said breathlessly.

He shrugged, sporting a grin also. She saw how he averted his eyes from the large group of partiers that were getting to know each other intimately. "I don't think anything can beat running through fire," he commented matter-of-factly. He started laughing. "We just did something very stupid, didn't we?"

Jealousy was slightly put off by the fact that his laughing visage was concealed, but she was placated by his laughing, as well. "The kinder way of saying it is 'something _courageous_'," she responded breezily. She looked in the distance. "I have an idea. Let's go." She led him passed the bustling partygoers and into the heart of the city.

They stopped at the largest building, the Imperial Court. The Emperor held council in the building during the day and retired to his private palace during the night.

Xan Feng turned towards her, apprehension apparent. "Are you thinking what I think you're thinkin—" his startled gasp and groan affirmed it as Jealousy scaled the walls of the Imperial Court.

Jealousy turned back to him playfully. "I know you're athletic. All practitioners of Alkahestry have a martial arts background! Don't keep me waiting!" She saw him shake his head and give in, skillfully climbing after her.

Both of them reached the top after a few minutes. They didn't dare talk while they climbed for fear of being distracted, but when they finally sat upon the cool, vermillion shingles of the roof, they started laughing at the incredulity of what they just did.

"The sky is beautiful. What color do you suppose it is?" Jealousy murmured.

Xan Feng looked up and 'hmm'ed. "It looks black. No, wait," he opened his eyes wider. "It's blue.

Jealousy smirked. "I see a dark purple. Which one of us, do you suppose, is right?" She felt him scoot closer to her, probably worried that she would be cold. She _was_ cold, but that was normal. Homunculi don't have body temperatures.

Xan Feng's voice was right by her eye. "Both of us… neither of us… it wouldn't matter. We see what we see, but the universe still goes on." The stars winked. Xan Feng leaned in and he became all that Jealousy could see, feel, smell, hear, and _taste_ for those precious moments.

_Caden._

* * *

Three months passed and Jealousy already made good on the promise to help him study the deadly disease hidden in Xing. She brought him advanced anatomy books from Aerugo and helped translate them. She lectured him on surgery from other countries. She even exhumed corpses for him to open up, but he refused them for respect towards the dead.

Despite all his newfound knowledge and theories, he was unable to heal the disease completely. It wasn't something that one could heal with the Dragon's Pulse. Maybe it was something that required a new method… maybe something that needed physical removal, excising? Or it was some sort of disease that caused internal damage, since the dark marks on the chest seemed like intense hemorrhaging. Whatever it was… she would find out for him.

Jealousy informed him that she would be leaving for a week or two at most and set off away from the city. A distance away from the city, a large ravine cut across the earth. The area was desolate and ominous, but most knew not of it. Only the highest officials in the bureaucracy, privy to the dark side of the government, knew of the ravine and its purpose.

The ravine was a perfect, natural quarantine. Centuries ago, it was common knowledge that the Xia Kai Ravine was a place to abandon the sick, the disabled, and the criminals. Before she was imprisoned, the Xingese closed their country to the outside world and began a systematic purging of their documents and history and _people_, just so they could hide the ravine and its secrets. After her imprisonment, the Xing never mentioned it; maps after 1578 had Xia Kai Ravine removed from them, all history books were expunged of any mention of the ravine, and those who knew it, were forbidden to talk about it under pain of death and torture.

She knew, but only because she lived before the era. Jealousy had a faint notion—if the government wanted to hide something, they would hide it in a 'nonexistent' ravine. She was nearing the rough terrain which made it impossible to travel by horse. People weren't willing to travel it by foot, so the bureaucrats feared little for the ravine to be discovered. Once she cleared the border to the general area of the ravine, Jealousy morphed into an eagle and shot across the sky.

From an aerial point of view, it was easy to spot the giant rip in the soil. Jealousy swept into a dive and allowed herself to plummet into the darkness. As she streaked downwards, she noticed buildings and structures at the bottom. She slowed her descent and stopped in time to gently land on a dilapidated roof. Morphing back into a human form, her eyes became less accurate and she had to stare harder to discern her surroundings.

Rickety buildings were relics from the past, and seemed to be the center of what little civilization there was down in the ravine. What made up most of the buildings were tiny shacks, haphazardly put together with loose chucks of rock and wood. The people seemed to be sleeping at the moment, for there was no one outside.

Jealousy decided to investigate the shacks one by one. She saw all sorts of characters with a variety of problems. There were people of many ages, but not many families together. As she stepped out of a shack that belonged to an ostensibly normal man, she heard quiet moans from the shack nearby. Rushing quietly to the source of the noise, she saw that it was a young woman who was half-awake.

The woman was weak and thin. Her hair was light and wispy, messily draping over her gaunt cheeks and down to her spindly torso. She was naked, and Jealousy could see that whatever disease that was eating at her was literally eating away at her—she was almost like a skeleton. Her half-lidded eyes showed how much pain she was in.

"…a-are y-you…?" her voice was too soft. Jealousy walked closer to the woman. "…ho are yo…" her words were discernable now.

"No one. Are you in pain?" The woman weakly nodded.

Jealousy looked her over again. It seemed to be the disease that Xan Feng was talking about. There was no outward blemish aside from her overly emaciated form. She gently examined the woman with her hand, brushing away the fragile hands that tried to stop her.

Once the woman began to understand what Jealousy was doing, she stopped and lied placid on her bedding.

"Since when did you have this disease?"

"…t became notice…ear ago…" _So it didn't start a year ago, but it became a problem a year ago. A slowly developing disease, one subtle until it was too late. Rather strange disease. _Jealousy continued asking her questions, trying to find out more about the disease. She soon learned that it didn't seem contagious or airborne. The disease seemed more like poison or some sort of noncontagious terminal disease.

"Where do you feel pain?"

"…y ches…ear m…eart…"

Jealousy stopped. The disease's characteristics made it a daunting foe, indeed. Now it sounded like a slow heart attack.

"…re you the Merci…dess?"

Jealousy smiled sadly. It was hard to not fee pity for such a decrepit creature. "No."

The woman's sigh was almost unnoticeable. "Yo….ould…be."

It was impossible for her to feel the woman's weak pulse from the neck and the wrist. She sighed in frustration. The woman was so thin that her breasts were small bumps on her ribs, barely there. Jealousy unabashedly placed her hand gently on the woman's chest, right over her heart. Mindful that she felt pain there, Jealousy lowered her hand slowly, barely touching the skin. Feeling nothing, she pushed down a little more until she could feel the beat.

She felt it. The pulse was weak and desperate, but it seemed blocked—

A pained gasp and shudder raked the woman's form and she fell limp. Jealousy cocked her head curiously and touched the woman's cheek. "Are you okay?" She waved her hand in front of her open eyes. They were glassy. She was dead.

_Hey, I missed you. It was strange being at school without you._

_I missed you too, Caden. I'm doing this for you.  
_

Jealousy stood up and started examining the corpse. Her chest had a dark mark that started blossoming across the skin. Curious, Jealousy changed her right middle and index finger into a large knife and neatly cut open the woman's whole torso. Despite her motionless heart, blood started flowing out rapidly from her chest. "There shouldn't be so much blood coming out of a corpse, and not this quickly, either…" she started sifting through the organs and pulling them out one by one.

Her intestines were given a cursory check, as the woman said that the pain was in her chest. The corpse's liver, spleen, stomach, and after she carefully hacked away at the rib cage, she carefully examined the lungs, thymus, and heart. The lungs seemed fine and normal. She tossed them onto the ground. She picked up the thymus. Jealousy didn't even know what constituted as 'normal' for the thymus. That was dropped to the ground, as well. When Jealousy was getting ready to rip the heart out, she noticed a large, odd mound on the side of what would be the right atrium.

She ripped the heart out and turned it around. The mound was depressed in the middle, almost like it was a tiny crater in the heart. Aside from where the heart connected to the aorta and venae cavae, that little crater-mound was the bloodiest spot of the heart. Jealousy looked closely inside the crater and saw that it was deep into the atrium walls, almost penetrating through. _So she had a hole in her heart? She must have hemorrhaged and internally bled to death._

She looked back at the now-empty torso. Blood pooled down the bottom, but there was a tiny red lump amongst the blood. She held the heart with her left hand and picked up the lump with her right. Examining it in the faint light, she saw that it was vein-littered and pulpy. She squeezed it lightly between her thumb, index, and middle fingers and a spurt of blood dribbled down her fingers. Like an inquisitive child, she tried to fit the lump to the crater on the heart. It fit perfectly.

Jealousy held up the lump to her face. "You must be it, then." She transformed her eyes so that her vision became sharper and she analyzed the meat lump. She wasn't exactly good with biology, so it was hard for her to describe the lump. It seemed like a bumpier version of the heart. A tumor? A genetic disorder? From what Xan Feng told her, it seemed to affect a diverse number of people in Xing. But usually, once one was discovered to be sick in one area, others nearby were likely to be sick, as well.

It wasn't contagious, but many were affected. Contamination of water or the environment… poison from heavy metals or natural substances… an inherent genetic disorder within the Xingese… many things could have caused or contributed to the appearance of such a disease.

Jealousy unceremoniously dumped all the organs and the ribs back into the torso and bent the corpse together to keep everything from falling out. She hefted the carcass-bag onto her shoulder and ran out the hut.

After she found a place to bury the body without suspicion, she went back into the hut and tried to dilute the scent of blood with water. The dark stains on the dirt were pored over with water and Jealousy covered the patches up with dirt. There was no water left to clean the blood off her.

She walked around to other huts, trying to find more people with the same disease. She found five others, four men and one younger girl. She didn't bother asking questions; she quietly applied pressure to their chest to see if they would die the same way the first woman did. Everyone was victim to the same cause of death.

Jealousy ruthlessly dissected each human, trying to find the same lump as before. It was present in every corpse, only varying in size. Each of the cadavers had the same crater from the lump, with slight differences in locate on, but all generally near the right atrium. Six people weren't enough to prove anything, but she had limited resources and time.

_It seems as though that the abnormal growth is part of the cause of death. Any pressure on the chest causes the growth—probably a tumor—to rupture and the sufferer dies from the shock and hemorrhaging._

She had enough. Cleaning up the rest of her mess, she morphed back into an eagle and vacated the ravine before anyone poked around and saw her.

* * *

"You've been gone for a long time." Xan Feng was sitting in a brightly lit room, one with a high ceiling, lofts with books and scrolls, and a large table for studying and experimenting. He had a tome open on his left and paper on his right for writing.

Jealousy slinked into the room through the door and shut it behind her. "Don't worry, no one saw me. Most of my time was spent travelling."

He gave her a noncommittal glance and turned back to his work. She walked up behind him and draped her arms around his shoulders, and lowered her mouth to his ear.

"I know what the disease is," she whispered. Xan Feng's body stiffened and he turned towards her with excitement.

"Really? How did you—where—what?"

Jealousy was about to answer him until she realized he would, probably to definitely, not like her answer. She quietly looked back at him.

"I'll teach you exactly what you need to do to cure someone of this disease." He frowned, not liking that she avoided his question. "You'll have to learn how to operate—"

His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "You mean, actually cut someone open?" When Jealousy nodded, Xan Feng looked as though he wished to flee the room.

Jealousy looked at him coolly. "You don't _have_ to learn this. You don't _have _to cure this. Just take a few days to decide." She half-expected an argument with him, but he didn't move from his seat.

He was pale and his hair just accentuated his sallow face at picturing operating on a live person. His fingers fidgeted but he slowly gripped them tight in a fist. Jealousy let her hand trail down his arm and to his fist; slowly, her hand rubbed his fist into relaxation.

Her hands started roaming his shoulders, slim but firm, and down his taut back. "Just don't think about it right now," her breath glazing the back of his neck. He turned around to pull her closer.

_I did this for you, Caden. Aren't you happy?_

* * *

Night was halfway through when Jealousy watched Xan Feng sleep. He was undoubtedly tired from the day's events and needed rest like a normal human. Jealousy wished that she could sleep, _fall asleep_, with him. Her eyes ravished his naked form until she was satisfied, and then she draped a loose blanket over him. She got up and morphed her clothes back on her body.

Jealousy walked towards the balcony and leaned out into the moonlight. For how long had she been in Xing? Living with Xan Feng seemed so natural, so carefree, and so _human. _The thing was, he was both a friend and now a lov—_she nearly choked_—point was, Xan Feng Li was quickly becoming someone unbearably precious to her.

It was there in which a problem laid. Envy was precious to her, as well. She couldn't abandon him. But yet, her thoughts lingered less on her brother and more on the mortal that she held dear. Dante would kill Envy, but she would kill Xan Feng. Which one did she want more?

Or better yet, would Xan Feng still want _her_ after he knew all the unspeakable deeds she had performed—even worse, the murder and cavalier autopsies that she performed in his name, just for him? She was sad to see that she held no remorse for her actions. She did what she did for what she wanted. Jealousy was only sad because she knew that Xan Feng didn't fancy ruthless, immortal monsters sharing a bed with him.

She wished she could sleep. The closest she could get to sleep was mentally delving into the Gate, but with the precious little Red Stones within her, she didn't think that she had the energy to try. The sun had yet to rise, so she wasted her time getting lost in her thoughts.

_Smells like Caden, speaks like Caden, looks like Caden, tastes like Caden, feels like Caden_—

* * *

"Are you ready? This might be traumatic for you…"

"Yes, I'm ready. How will you teach me?" Xan Feng was impatient.

Jealousy sighed. She hardly began explaining the whole disease to him yet. "There is information that you need to know first. The disease is an abnormal growth on the right side of the heart. Blood goes to that growth, which creates a bubble-like blood pocket that digs into the heart muscles and the walls of the heart." At Xan Feng's confused expression, she held up a hand before he could ask. "All will be apparent soon. I'll show you exactly what I mean.

"That growth is a tumor, a malignant growth that takes the energy meant for the rest of the body. The reason that Alkahestry cannot cure it is because it is part of the victim's flesh; it is, in reality, the victim's body turning against itself. When that blood lump is big enough, the nourishment that it siphons of the body becomes obvious and the ill develop chest pains. Eventually, they become so weak that when the lump hemorrhages, the victim of the disease dies from shock to the heart and internal bleeding."

Xan Feng nodded and tried to guess what the solution was. "So, using surgery, one could _operate_—" he used that word gingerly "—and excise the lump before it gets to be too late and heal over the damage using Alkahestry?"

Jealousy smiled. "Exactly."

Xan Feng pursed his lips into a tight line. "How am I going to practice? I can't exactly have bodies brought in for me to cut up, and even then, they would have the tumor. I can't cut up the dead since it is highly disrespectful." Here, he gave her a reproaching look that she ignored.

Jealousy turned away from him. "Ready for your first lesson? Take out the set of knives that I gave you." He brought out the box which contained his surgical scalpels. "Wait here—I'll just be a second." She went behind a folding screen and when she stepped back out, her form changed to the naked, emaciated one akin to the disease victims.

Xan Feng dropped his box in shock. Thankfully, he said nothing. Jealousy motioned for him to pick it up and she lay on the low table, a white sheet underneath to protect the furniture. "Now, cut me open."

"Yue Lin, you must be jo—"

"_Cut me open_, Xan Feng." He lowered the knife with hesitation. "Start at the top corner of the chest and drag it diagonally to the center—" a sharp pain flooded her chest, but it wasn't nearly as bad as she had before. "And do the same from the other corner. Stop hesitating; I won't die. Think of it as practicing on a human doll."

Xan Feng kept his face eerily calm as he precisely sliced the top part of her chest open.

"Cut just a little down the midd—no, lower—yes, just a little—" He had enough cut to see her heart.

Xan Feng stared at the pulsating organs with fascination. "Is… is that the _heart_? I've only seen pictures but… wow."

Jealousy shrugged, trying to focus on something other than the pain. "Right… don't do anything to my ribs—do you see something out of place with the heart?"

"I see a bump in the smooth muscle. Is that what I cut out?"

"Yes. Don't damage my aorta." She winced. "You nicked a vein. Wait, that's unimportant; but do be careful."

She looked up and frowned. Xan Feng's expression was inscrutable. Jealousy couldn't begin to even imagine what he felt about this situation, but there was no other way; she could exactly haul one of the sick ones from Xia Kai Ravine and have him cut _them_ open.

"It started hemorrhaging! There's too much blood flooding the area!" Xan Feng panicked and placed the knife down, trying to seal the muscle with alkahestry.

Jealousy sighed. "This exercise is over. Step back." Once Xan Feng's hands were away, she morphed herself back to normal. She looked at him. His hands, pale and trembling, were slick with blood. Splotches dotted him along the chest and face.

She walked up to him and took hold of his hands. "What did we learn today?"

His eyes narrowed and he slapped her hands away. "Don't you patronize me! You have no idea how—"

"—how that felt? No, I don't. But this is the only viable option for you… I doubt you would practice on actual humans."

He sighed. The dripping of the blood off his hands wavered and stopped. "Is… is that what you did?"

Jealousy ignored his question. "First off, you need to be careful with those scalpels. I know you are inexperienced, but you can't afford to be unsteady. Secondly, you need something to drain the excess blood that blocks your vision."

Xan Feng frowned and he knew that he would have to behave in a clinically dry manner to get anywhere. Jealousy just wasn't willing to answer his question. "Perhaps, a syringe? I can keep a few on me at the ready…"

Jealousy nodded. "That sounds about right. Would you like to try again or eat first?"

"I…" He hesitated. "It's fine. I'll eat later; it's barely noon."

"Okay, then," Jealousy replied dubiously. "Just tell me when you're tired. I don't want you to collapse from shock—" here he made a protesting noise "—I'm not calling you weak; but this is a rather traumatic experience for you."

"…thank you," he murmured softly. "It's like I'm going against everything that I have learned in the Healing Arts… _cutting_ people _open_." He sighed.

Jealousy placed her hands back on his in trepidation. He did not knock them away. "Ready? It's going to be in a different place this time." She transformed in front of his eyes and saw how his gaze hardened into a determined glare.

_That's right_—_try again, Caden._

* * *

"…can cure it! I fou…"

"…preposterous! I… hear…!"

Jealousy could only hear snippets of the conversation. Xan Feng was meeting with his bureaucrat cousin, Cai Li, to tell him about his medical breakthrough. Jealousy wasn't allowed to see him because one: no one knew that she was here—she hid herself in Xan Feng's private wing all the time; and two: the secret of the disease was between the two cousins.

Hours passed, and she watched the moon slowly drift down to the horizon. The two men have been talking the whole night. Suddenly, she heard the other voice—not Xan Feng's voice—speak.

"I'll bring her to you." Jealousy frowned. "It will take a fortnight, but I'll do it. This is only because—"

"—I know. I'll never ask anything of you again. Take care."

"I expect a beautiful moon cake that you _made_ by _hand_ for the Li Banquet during the upcoming festival! I hear Auntie Mai wax poetic about the cake three years ago—"

"—let's not talk about that, alright? The stove was never the same again."

After some shuffling, Jealousy heard the wooden doors snap shut. Xan Feng excitedly walked into his bedroom, where she was waiting. "All of this is coming into fruition!"

Jealousy smiled. "I'm glad for you."

Xan Feng leaned down to caress her hair. He held the locks dearly to his lips. Suddenly, he dropped the locks and looked out the window. "Moon Festival… we met around then, right?"

Jealousy nodded. She knew where this was going. "It has been almost a year. I will soon have to leave and return to my _duties_." She tried to hide the disgust in her voice. She didn't want to leave. But she didn't want Envy suffer for her choices, which is what would undoubtedly happen… Unless…

If she was gone, Dante would send Envy to hunt her down. He knew that she was in Hei Bai City. If she wasn't here, then Envy would have to go back to Dante, who _shouldn't_ be likely to destroy the only tool she had left. Most likely, she would only torture Envy if she found Jealousy.

Jealousy sighed. Xan Feng tilted her chin with an index finger. "What's wrong, Yue Lin?"

She looked down. "I wish I could stay here forever. I don't want to leave you."

Xan Feng frowned and 'hmm'ed. "I wish the same… but if you have obligations, it speaks ill of your character to abandon them."

Jealousy gave a noncommittal hum. She turned to face him again, sharply. "I would if you ask me to."

Xan Feng widened his eyes. "I… ask?"

"Ask me to stay with you. Granted, we will have to flee for a year or so, out of Xing since my brother will be sent to hunt me down, but afterwards… we'll be free and together." She looked him dead in the eye. "Only ask it of me, and I'll do it."

Xan Feng seemed to be vacillating between choices. Finally, he sighed and looked away. "I can't do that. It's one thing to abandon the throne and my clan's chance at power, but I can hardly abandon Xing altogether. I am obligated as a physician of Xing to heal its citizens. I am obligated to heal those from that disease, and I'm the only one who knows how at the moment, even though I told my cousin." He paused. "I can't be selfish enough to take you from your responsibilities. If others depend on you, I can't just take you away. You have a family… a brother? I can't on good conscience let you disappear without telling your family."

Jealousy smirked mirthlessly. "Sometimes, it's not a good thing, those responsibilities and obligations… are you sure that's what you want? You might come to regret your decision." The thoughts in her head started to turn. It took approximately a week to fly back to Hylantier by herself, but with a human… it would take two weeks, the very least. Just enough time to return to Dante by the end of the seven year period.

Xan Feng nodded, unwittingly signing his death.

Jealousy sighed. "Your life was forfeit the day you looked at me, did you know?" She began to melt away her disguise, going back to her form as the homunculus Jealousy for the first time in a year. She almost forgot how she looked like. She noted the surprise in Xan Feng's eyes. She almost forgot what she was. Inhuman, monster, _not alive_.

"I'm sorry." Quick as a darting snake, she swung her forearm around his neck and held tight until the pressure to his carotid artery made him collapse. She gently placed him on the floor and went into his study room, where he kept his medicinal supplies and substances. After ferreting through the cabinets, Jealousy discovered that he had opium in one of the locked cabinets after smashing the lock off. She knew she could use the brown chunks to keep the Li Heir sedated, but she didn't really know how to use it. Jealousy shrugged. She could just make him eat it.

After forcing some of the opium down his throat, she hefted him over her shoulder and took him out of his room. She had to duck into the shadows more than once while trying to reach the idol room, for the Li Clan servants were waking up to perform their jobs in the morning.

Jealousy finally made it into the idol room. There, the ceramic idol was being worshipped by one servant, evidently in his morning prayer. He looked up in shock and almost started yelling until she rushed forward and broke his neck with a single twist. She had to drop Xan Feng, though, but it didn't seem like he fell too hard. The idol's unseeing eyes glared reproachfully at her but she gave nary a prayer before smashing through the burgundy earth.

She watched it shatter and amidst the debris, the Red Stone cohered into a round blob. She picked it up, carefully as to nor jar it, and swallowed it greedily. Jealousy felt more alive and energetic and couldn't fathom why she even tried to take the Stones out in the first place. She picked up the limp body of Xan Feng and smashed through the skylight. Landing on the roof, she raced towards the forest before the rising sun could see the results of her deeds.

* * *

One week and a half of constant travel. Not once during that period did Jealousy allow Xan Feng to gain total consciousness. She kept him drugged, hydrated him when needed, and fed him barely. She avoided looking at him when she could.

Finally, Jealousy saw the dark blotch that was Dante's manor. She twisted past the fog and landed in a clearing nearby. Gently shrugging her cargo off her back, she transformed back into her normal form and picked up the man. As she trekked to the manor, a figure dashed up to her. He was scowling fiercely.

"Why did it take you so long? I was done in Bycarus within two months!" Envy was seething, but Jealousy knew that he must have been extremely worried.

Jealousy let out a huff of air. "I was enjoying my vacation. You should have done the same."

Envy frowned, but it was more of a pout to Jealousy. "I _thought_ you would try to finish as soon as you can so we could see each other again." He pointed at Xan Feng. "Did you play around with your quarry before capturing him?"

Jealousy hummed. "He proved interesting. But that is beside the point. Is the witch angry?"

He twisted his face into a sneer. "She _expected_ it, she says." He transformed into Dante's face. "Soon, she'll come running back," he mimicked her with a falsetto. Envy morphed back to normal. "If you're going to see her, I'm not coming with you."

Jealousy shrugged. "Suit yourself." Envy ran off into the nearby woods and left Jealousy all by her lonesome. She felt Xan Feng stir against her arm.

"…where…?"

Jealousy frowned. She couldn't drug him at the moment. If he was awake, Dante wanted him to stay that way.

"You are with me on my Master's land. I hope you are happy that I chose _her_ over you, Xan Feng," she muttered venomously.

Xan Feng seemed to become more cognizant. "…I supposed that I did it to myself. Was this your original purpose?"

"Yes."

"What changed?"

Her feet were dragging slower. "I became foolish, naïve; I thought I could pretend to be something that I wasn't."

"…did you love me?"

She stopped walking entirely. "…no," she said firmly. Jealousy didn't need to look to know that he smiled sadly. He knew her too well.

"Well, for what it counts, I loved you. I still think I do, too." She started walking again. "I never was able to thank you for helping this whole year. I… originally, I wanted to know because of—of my sister."

"Really?" Jealousy was prideful that her voice was noncommittal. "Now you will be unable to help her."

Xan Feng sighed. "Not really… but my cousin will ensure that others learn the technique and—who knows? She'll be cured by someone else. Her progression in the disease isn't as bad as the others, and she's young and strong. I'm sure she'll live."

Jealousy kept walking. "Why don't you fight back?" Her pace slowed once more. "Why don't you struggle?" Her feet scraped the stone steps of the manor. She let him down from her back. He took a few unsteady steps, before holding onto her to walk up the stairs.

Xan Feng finally answered her. "You already told me that my life was forfeit as soon as we locked eyes. You have never lied to me. Omitted the truth, yes, but we all do that." Jealousy pulled the door open.

She led him, like a lamb to the slaughter, into the dark maw that was the open door; led him straight into the belly of the hungry, greedy beast named Dante.

_I can't be your friend anymore, Caden; goodbye._

* * *

Hello, this is an author's note. I edited just ONE glaring typo that was bothering me when I checked up on the chapter again. I also added this note in.

Not to be a needy beggar/bugger, but I would feel just wonderful and more compelled to write if readers would just take the time to review. Maybe even a one-liner if one is pressed for time. I check up on my story traffic every once in a while and I feel like utter shit when people read and leave. I have no idea what goes on in their heads-do the readers actually **like** the story, or are all the hits and visitors just people who look through, hurl with total revulsion, and **press** backspace?

Please speak up. If not for my sake, then for the sake of all the readers who would like top-quality writing. I write as a hobby, but I would also like to learn something from it, and to give back to others.


	6. Chapter 5: Adrift On Dark Waters

**Chapter Five: Adrift On Dark Waters**

Her hand played with the powder delicately. She would pinch a bit up, rub it between her fingers, and then let the tiny particles drift back down to the table. She didn't know what to do with the rest of it. It felt… wrong to just throw it into the air, but she certainly couldn't deal it to others. She took one last look before picking up the paper that the brown dust-like substance was on, and tipped the whole thing into her mouth. She felt peaceful. She felt loved. She felt quiet. She might finally fall asleep.

As quick as the feeling came, her body undoubtedly washed the sensation away. She glared at the empty paper in disappointment. _He _washed away, too, and just as quickly. What was one year to her, anyways? _A special year—she was more human yet less, restricted by this doll-like body._

Jealousy crumpled the wrappings for the remains of Xan Feng's opium and slinked out of her room.

* * *

1692—it was almost a new century. What was eight years to something like her? It felt so tiring to live and her mind always felt heavy. _What it would be like to die,_ she wondered. Jealousy remembered the feeling faintly, as years washed away the true brunt of the sensation. It felt like fading, helpless, slowly slipping down the edge of a sloped cliff and eyeing the bottom the whole time. Once she fell, it felt like the inevitable. Humans were meant to die. Everything was meant to end. _Going home_, she mused. _One goes out, sees the world, but needs a home to come back to._

Jealousy had contemplated dying. The opium had given her a release—a quick one—but it left her wanting. She couldn't exactly find more and she didn't fancy herself a psychological addiction, despite the euphoria. She reasoned that her _home_ might be the Gate. So she tried diving in the Gate. It was stupid, she supposed, as she tried to fight the black, undulating appendages that ripped her mind out of the passageway and threw it right back into her homunculus body. She sighed, back to the floor. It wasn't going to work. And she didn't want to be deconstructed. There was no release to that; only pain. She realized that she didn't _want_ to die. Then what did she want?

Perhaps revenge? Dante was only human—a powerful, almost omniscient, godly human—and Jealousy could slip away, when she was _sure_ that Envy wouldn't be caught in the crossfire. Then it could start there, couldn't it? She could find others, set them against Dante—or why not try to topple the witch's schemes all by herself?

Envy walked into her room. "_She_ wants us. She didn't say when, though." That was all he said. He seemed to have made his mind up to let her come to terms with the past by herself. She was glad for it; Jealousy didn't know what to say to him.

She nodded and watched as Envy slinked out of the room. She gave a passing glance at the documents that lay upon her table. They were all Hohenheim's notes, journals, and manuscripts. She spent the last few weeks, looking futilely for _something_, but she didn't know what.

* * *

"We are moving."

Jealousy and Envy stood mutedly in front of Dante, staring at the point before her feet. That was difficult since Dante kept pacing back and forth. Her form was withered and old, which belied the alchemical prowess inside. Jealousy wondered when she was going to finally switch bodies.

"I am glad that you two can keep your curiosity in check and it would spare me the trouble having to explain myself, but I would like you two to play a part in this." Translation: don't talk, let me talk, and do what I tell you to do next. "Come with me." The twins followed her into her 'dungeon', the cellar.

The floor was dry and free of blood for once. Dante walked briskly towards a dark corner of the room and lit the candles along the way. Jealousy and Envy trailed behind her rigidly, apprehensive of her motives.

The aged crone reached her destination. It was a cage with a dingy cushion and worn blanket inside. Huddled in the corner was a young girl, about fifteen or sixteen years of age. Dante cracked a grin. "Hello, my dear. Are you well rested?"

The doe-eyed girl shuddered in fear and dared not respond. Her hair, clearly possessing sheen and vitality before her imprisonment, was a matted, strawberry-blonde, haystack-tangle clump of hair. _Pitiful, wretched… prey—_these thoughts echoing in both of the homunculi's mind.

Jealousy raised an eyebrow. A human pet of Dante's?—but no, her _mother_ took out a tiny red stone, clearly the Philosopher's Stone, and with but a thought the stone glowed and covered the room with a soft, blood red light.

Logically, this would be the best time to attack and free herself. She knew Envy would be in a similar state of mind. However… her body tingled in the presence of the stone and the jolts of electricity that she felt prevented her from moving. It was as if she was pumped full of adrenaline but the nerves made her too jittery and too tired to act. Envy collapsed to the floor from the overwhelming power of the stone.

As the light died, a soft giggle made itself clear throughout the cellar. "The procedure was successful, so it seems for now." It was Dante who spoke, but the voice was higher, breathier, and more innocent.

Jealousy looked back intrepidly. The girl's eyes were lacking the fear and pain from a moment before. A sickly sweet smell gave way to the foul fumes of decay from Dante's old body. With a blue jolt of alchemical light, the new Dante freed herself from the cage, walking out as if royalty. The young flesh delighted her, Jealousy could tell.

"Envy… still weak," she sneered. She snapped her eyes to Jealousy, disdain strong within the orbs. "Bring your brother up to the parlor. I will go over details there." She glided out of the room.

Jealousy knew that whatever plans that Dante had been mulling over have finally started to be put into action.

* * *

"I don't like this form," Envy complained. Jealousy knew that he hated any form besides the one he always wore. She'd rather wear any form besides the same one. Maybe then, she could pretend that she wasn't a monster. _Why did she care?_

Both were disguised as two brothers that were the loyal bodyguards to the Hylanchian noble duchess, Asmara Remnoirè. Envy—now called Hesfield—was now tall, burly, and mustached. Heavily armored and armed with a harquebus and huge axe, he seemed the part. Jealousy—known as the younger brother Somende—was taller as well, but much more wiry. She was dressed in black robes with light plates of iron covering vital parts. Instead of a harquebus or an axe, she was equipped with a hidden sword inside a harshly carved cane decorated with the head of a dragon. She was the assassin while Envy was the knight.

Asmara Remnoirè, as Dante was now known as, was the single noble daughter of Judson Remnoirè, a lesser noble of Hylantier. After the fall of the country to the militant Amestris, the dwindling aristocracy in Hylantier tried to cement their futures by tying themselves to the nobility of Amestris. Asmara Remnoirè was but one of the many pawns that fathers used to save themselves and their families (not to mention, fortunes). It just happened that Asmara was picked by a man who had all the status and wealth that her family wanted: Coen Daellenbach, son of the Amestrian Viceroy Cygnus Daellenbach, and the Captain General for the National Army. Asmara's family would have been set for generations to come… if Dante had not ordered her new bodyguards to secretly dispose of every remaining Remnoirè slowly over the next seven years. Jealousy noticed that Dante had a strange preoccupation with the number 'seven', but knew nothing good would come of prematurely unraveling her _Master's_ plan. So she let it rest.

Dante managed to capture the poor chit when her carriage was en route to the Amestrian border, where her fiancé's troops would provide an armed escort the whole way to West City. It was Dante and Company that would meet up with Daellenbach's army now.

"Somende, please fan me; this weather is unbearable!" Dante was _perfect_ for the spoiled princess role.

Jealousy, now Somende (she would have to remember that) graciously picked up a large, ostentatious, jewel-encrusted fan to relive Dante's discomfort. She caught Envy's—Hesfield's—amused gaze until he remembered that he had to pretend to hate Jealousy. Dante-Asmara had roles for them to play.

_Don't you know? A family and environment of hate is much easier to manipulate than one of solidarity and love. We can provide the fuel for them._

_I applaud you, Master_, Jealousy mused. _Already plotting ways to break the family apart, and somehow, worm your way into the Amestrian Court._ She shook his head, almost forgetting her resolve. _Let the witch show herself foolishly. I'll watch_.

The somber soldiers led them onwards, only giving Jealousy and Envy suspicious glances every now and then. There were also sparks of irritation that grew with Dante's behavior, but it was as good as she could expect. Even with their journey being relatively peaceful, Jealousy couldn't help but shake at the thick feel of anticipation on her tongue.

* * *

In West City, the castle was devoid of any actual royalty. The King and his family resided in Central City, while the surrounding cardinal cities acted as vacation homes and villas for important guests and subjects. The Daellenbach family was proud to be so cherished by the king that West City Castle was practically their own little kingdom. The centerpiece of the castle was General Coen Dallenbach.

Coen Daellenbach was handsome—as handsome as a self-important, elitist child could get. Fiercely sharp facial features (Amestrians especially bred children for such), tall and muscular; intelligent, dark eyes that only gave _hints_ at what their owner aspired to obtain from the world. Jealousy knew a dangerous man when she looked, but Coen was hardly a danger to her. Nor was he a danger to Dante, who had been playing the game of survival and depravity, avarice and manipulation _far_ too long for a novice war hawk to do much damage. _No, Coen Daellenbach was only a danger to his fellow human beings._

Not to say Dante's new fiancé had no heart—the man was proven to be _human_ at the very least, for the desire he had for his new fiancée was not dark but soft and fond. Coen found someone he could love and protect (_so he thought_, Jealousy mused morbidly). Envy communicated with her as often as he could—they had a feud to keep up—and told her that he often witnessed Coen escorting Dante on slow evening strolls, always ending the day with a quick peck on the lady's (_witch's_) cheek and a flush, de-thorned, red rose in her hair. _Sickening,_ they both agreed.

Jealousy would think herself insane, but she would occasionally find the source of her anger to be…well, her namesake: _Jealousy_. She wasn't jealous of Dante for Coen, per say, but that she had someone left to woo and be _fond_ of her. What did Jealousy have but a dead lover, and by her own hand? Was she more scared of her Master than she was more in love with Xan Feng? In that case, no one would be safe as long as she was under her Master's thumb, her fear of Dante and the unknown strong and controlling. Then maybe she wanted _freedom_.

Either way, Jealousy had to put her feelings aside. The two _brothers_ had a feud to keep up, court members to stalk and eliminate. Asmara lent her _bodyguards_ to Coen indefinitely and he used them to his advantage. Envy was to intimidate dissenters in public or military sectors while Jealousy was to stealthily silence opponents that walked the Amestrian Court. Both were slowly and steadily extending Coen's influence and power.

But not all days were spent court-stalking and intimidating the public. Dante told the two brothers to play 'nice' for the moment and pretend to enjoy life. Hesfield hated every human motion he had to go through, confessing his difficulty with controlling his urge to brain anyone who even _dared_ come near him. Jealousy, on the other hand, took Dante's private edict and milked it for all its worth.

* * *

A year passed. She initially wandered the neat, winding streets of West City, taking in all the cracks in the stone, the mismatched and lopsided buildings that towered over the narrow streets, and the _people_—having lived in a nation of unrest for so long, the animated atmosphere that coursed through the air was something she only remembered briefly from the Xingese Moon Festival.

From her wanderings, she managed to find herself in the Underground District of West City. It seemed that the crest of the Royal House that was on the corner of her dark uniform automatically made her unwelcomed in the district. So she shape shifted (something Dante had explicitly forbid them to do while they were in Amestris) and walked back to the secret entrance that was unobtrusively placed behind a dilapidated brick structure. Her eyes expressed amazement that it hadn't felt the need to since centuries. The cobbled stone steps that wound into the shadows led down to the unused sewers of West City. In the twists and tunnels, shady figures set up shop; a wizened alchemist carved his bar out of the cement walls and humans of all races (some didn't even look human, Jealousy noted when she saw a hulking giant amble down the pathway) traded secrets in the shadows. _Rather overt underground society—probably grew complacent once they realized how hard it is to find this place._

The bar seemed like a good place to start. Jealousy was now in the form of an androgynous young woman with shaggy hair, deep, heavy eyes and a scar across the right corner of her lip. Her nondescript robes gave away nothing of her identity. She slid into the bar and headed straight for the counter. The old bartender gave her a look askance and the other patrons had smirks hidden behind the shadows of their hoods. "_Fresh blood_," they hissed.

"What will it be?" The old alchemist was sizing her up.

"Th' strongest swill you got." Jealousy narrowed her eyes and tried to observe the area without looking like she was doing so. It was exciting; a new place without a mission, and purpose. She didn't know why she was here, but only it was not on Dante's schemes—and that was an empowering thought.

"Don' kill yerself," the old man croaked. Everyone was watching her. She didn't betray an emotion besides amusement as she eyed the drink, picked it up delicately, and downed it in one gulp.

She never drank before. No, that wasn't true; she _did_ drink in her actual life—her friends paid her ten dollars to finish their penalty drink, and her mother was okay with it—but the sensation was long forgotten, as well as the taste. _Like depression and bitterness_. The taste was foul and the sensation burned. But she wanted more.

Jealousy seemed to have passed everyone's silent judgment. The figures seemed to relax and focused back on their activities. She was glad for the lack of scrutiny, for now she could observe her surroundings in peaceful contemplation. The old bartender smirked at her and refilled her dirty glass. "So… th' real deal, eh?" He seemed to be speaking to himself rather than Jealousy.

She had no idea what he was talking about. "Hmm." The old man raised an eyebrow, took a strong sniff, and turned away.

"Next week, we have a hand-to-hand combat tournament here. Free drinks t' ya if ya participate."

It was Jealousy's turn to raise her eyebrow. _Cryptic old man_, she thought. _What is the game that you're trying to make me play, and against whom?_

* * *

The next week, she returned. The air of the underground seemed different; the atmosphere felt charged with anticipation and something a little darker.

Easily navigating through the tunnels, Jealousy glided into the bar with her hood up and features obscured. The bar was flooded with people, noises, and smoke. The air was burning with sweat and a poisonous undercurrent; Jealousy wouldn't be surprised if the burning of illegal substances were causing the thick haze. It mattered little to her; the faint high she received from the smoke did nothing but boost her mood.

"Drinks draw ya back? Nev'r seen a girlie like you down an Underworld Spitfire with appetite," a wavering, creaky voice spoke to Jealousy's side. "Come t' think of it, not a man, either." It was the old bartender, except the calculating look in his eye made her doubt any fragility due to his age. _The old man is after something, but will that something be good for me, too?_

"So you would think. Wouldn't mind another," she said blandly in return. He cackled and beckoned her with a gnarled finger towards the counter.

"Here's a free one; liquid courage before ya step into the ring."

Jealousy lazily leaned against her left hand, right fingernails slowly carving the scar on her lip. "I must admit that I am curious; why are you so insistent on the tournament? Did you make a desperate bet on me in exchange for your life and now you are trying to goad me into winning? Or perhaps, you saw me as an interesting prop for the tournament to bring in more customers?"

"Not even close, young one. Now drink up."

Jealousy grimaced at the wizened face with eyes that were boring into her head. "To victory," she murmured, taking the shot glass into her hand. She savored the burn of the drink this time. A malicious smile graced her lips as she lowered the grimy glass.

"Now get in there," the bartender grunted, eyes never abandoning their appraising spark. Jealousy noted that the counter was occupied with two dark figures that were both facing her direction. _It cannot be a coincidence. But let the humans try their play; let me see what I can gain_.

She walked up to the large congregation situated in the far corner of the bar; the area seemed to be newly transmutated. Jealousy could smell it—_there was no other phrase for it_—and started to observe her would-be opponents. Many were large, burly men. Some of those men had quick eyes and seemingly clever minds, while the rest where dull and brutish. There were a couple of lithe, acrobatic types hanging about who smirked at their larger adversaries. Of them all, only two women if Jealousy didn't count herself. _An interesting set up_. There must be some prize beyond bragging rights, Jealousy mused. She just hadn't the faintest idea of what it could be.

"Alrigh', alrighty; settle down, boys!" A tall, sinewy man was at the center of the crowd. His voice was rough, but easy on the ears. His head was bald and his body bare except for worn trousers and bandaged legs. The man slowly scratched the back of his calf with one foot. "Alright, SIDDOWN!" he roared, raising a tattooed arm in anger. The noise quieted and the audience sank lower. "For those who are new, I say welcome. For those who've dunnit 'fore, I say: why the _hell_ did you come back?" There were a couple of chuckles here and there, and Jealousy smiled.

"No, we all know why you'd come back. For many of you, this is your ticket to power—to glory. Nothing to scoff at. For the rare few, this is your _test_. You know what I'm talkin' 'bout." A couple of dark looks passed around throughout the crowd. "And the rest… you're here because of the fates testin' ya. So let's see how you hold up." The man walked back where the people parted for him, revealing a raised stone floor with two other figures observing. They were the same figures from the counter, Jealousy noted. _The Dark Ones, then; they need names_.

"Let us brave contact with fists, and in turn, our souls," the combatants chanted together. "Battle will judge and deem the worthy. We are all of the earth, and the earth will cherish our power!" A roar of consent rippled throughout the bar.

"Mathasis, start the damn fight already!"

Mathasis, the bald announcer, stood imposingly between his counterparts who nodded their approval.

* * *

"—but Gien only lasted two rounds in there. Decimated," an observer said mournfully.

"There goes my bet," another man groaned into his hand. "The wife'll be after my head for this." Various dark figures exchanged gold with wicked words attached.

Jealousy tuned out the grumbling of the outside and focused her full attention onto the fighters. She had yet to fight; she was waiting for someone fresh to win. It was not a tournament that was designed fairly. The winner of each fight would keep fighting until they lost. No deaths if possible and no cheap shots. Audience members could not get involved. The best time to fight would be as the last person. She had little to lose, though, so she didn't mind fighting whenever. She knew others would think it strange that a mere woman could last so long in the arena, so she was deciding the perfect time to step up: when there wasn't as much people, but enough so that she would get a decent workout.

_And there_. The clump of contenders was lessening. It wouldn't be too suspicious now if she joined. Mathasis called to the crowd for a new fighter. Jealousy slinked into the center and discarded her robe on a vacant chair. "Lookit here; a little girl. Looks like she's been in a few scrapes, though; Donata needs to watch out for any tricks up her sleeves," Mathasis bellowed enthusiastically to the pumped spectators.

Jealousy caught a few jeering remarks due to her gender but paid no heed to them. Her opponent, Donata, was a well-built man that had a fair amount of scars upon his arms. The man's face was fiercely carved, but the expression upon his face was anything but—he was one of the most level-headed fighters Jealousy witnessed in the arena. _Favors his right side now_. She eyed the large bruise on his left oblique with slight distaste. _Punches… and has a wicked leg sweep. Better not get hurt at all or else I would have to explain why my injuries disappear every time someone blinks._

The man gave her a piercing look and an easy grin, lowering himself into a cautious stance. Jealousy cocked her head to the right and slid her left foot backwards. She saw Mathasis's hand drop and immediately charged Donata. The man expertly shifted his shoulder, causing Jealousy to miss him by just an inch—_damnit_—and he grappled her by the wrist and swung her down to the ground.

Fortunately, that maneuver allowed Jealousy the opportunity to roll back into a kip up and she instead feinted a kick towards his midsection. The man stood steady and went to grab her leg, but she merely adjusted to step on his knee to propel herself further into a full-force front kick into his face.

The man stumbled backwards from the force of the hit, clearly surprised by the power behind the attack. His nose was broken. "It seems that I was guilty of underestimatin' you, Miss," he said, wiping away the blood from his nose. He barely winced from the pain. Jealousy didn't respond. There was nothing to say.

Donata made the first move this time around. He came at her with a swift palm, intent on stunning her. She wouldn't let him hit her once—she couldn't afford to. Her competitive streak from lives ago suddenly reared its head and she needed to win.

And although it would be impossible for the human to kill her or harm her grievously, it was still nigh impossible to act like she wasn't trying her best to dodge every furious punch that flew her way. Jealousy gritted her teeth angrily when she tipped back from a swift backfist that sailed over her head, and her feet tapped tenuously on the floor to steady her. He kept her on the defensive for the past minute, and it irritated her. Her irritation came out as a burst of frustration, and the ferocity of her counter caught him off guard.

He was fine with taking the brunt of her left kick with his shoulder, but didn't expect her to flip and use the momentum to deliver her right heel into his head. Donata tottered for a few moments before crashing down onto the ground out cold.

"Now there's an outcome you wouldn't expect!" The crowd jeered and pounded with noise. Jealousy let out a large breath in relief, despite not needing the actual action. "The woman's a dragon in disguise!" Mathasis riled up the spectators with his words.

"Then I'll do my duty as a man and put the girl in her place." A sharp voice called out from the other fighters. A lean man stepped out, his mouth in a distasteful frown from Jealousy's victory. She didn't know what to expect from him. He did not take off his shirt like the other men, but kept his dark blue tunic on and made to brush some dust off of his trousers. His sleek, thin hair reminded her of feathers and his hooked nose furthered his impression of a cruel hawk. Jealousy cocked an eyebrow, feeling a spark of irritation at the man. _Pretentious fool, I should just transmute you into a pebble._

The man bowed shallowly to her before taking a stance. _Nondescript. What do I do?_ Jealousy let her arms hang in front of her, crouching lower in preparation for sudden movement. The man was swift, and she received many glancing blows from him—but thankfully _only_ glancing blows.

Jealousy growled and let her body get caught by a sweeping kick to the gut. It hurt, but like all injuries, the damage healed immediately and she was able to push his leg up and aim a crippling blow to the back of his knee. The man collapsed on the floor, eyes glaring wrathfully at her. "Do you yield?" she asked quietly.

He spat in her direction and said nothing. Mathasis shook his head. "Perrison, you're done. Get out." At his word, two men walked forward to steady Perrison and bring him out of the circle. Mathasis turned back to the ring. Aside from Jealousy, there were only two women left, and one man. Both females didn't want to fight someone at full strength, but the male didn't care.

Jealousy sighed. This day was turning out to be rather inane.

* * *

After Donata and Perrison, her other opponents were easy. She had the confidence to defeat them without a scratch on her, and proceeded to do so. After the loud cry from the specators that followed her victory, Mathasis appeared beside her to hand her a small wooden box. Jealousy was hesitant to take it, but amongst the cheers the Dark Ones faced her and their hoods bobbed, prompting her to receive the box.

"Open it far from here," Mathasis hissed to her before turning back to address the crowd. "People, people—we have ourselves a new champion; at least, for the year! May we present to you the cash prize—" one of the dark figures glided up to her and handed a heavy bag that clinked when jostled, "—and the finest dagger from Aristole's Blacksmith of South City!" The many weapon enthusiasts in the crowd hushed up in awe when the wicked blade was gifted to Jealousy by the second dark figure.

It was a beautiful work. Simple; its tang was unprotected by a hilt and had no guard, and the end of the tang had a hole for those who wanted a retrievable projectile weapon. The blade was smooth and fine; one could immediately tell that much labor and precise effort was put into the forging of the blade.

"Take care of it, Dragon," Mathasis said solemnly, relishing in her new nickname. Jealousy walked out of the bar feeling elated, but the knowing glint from the bartender put uncertainty in her steps.

* * *

"Somende! Somend—there you are, sir!" A sharply dressed messenger ran up to her. "The Captain General would like to speak with you. It is of the utmost importance."

"Understood," Jealousy responded in a grave tone. She was polishing her blades in the armory for the Amestrian forces. More precisely, she was polishing her new dagger. "If you are heading back to him, inform the Captain General that I will be along posthaste."

After she was absolutely sure that not a speck of red remained upon the steel, she stalked with purpose towards the grounds. Coen Daellenbach usually enjoyed unusual settings for his informal meetings. That being, Jealousy's unofficial official rendezvous point was at the top of the Polycalthus Dome: a large edifice on the edge of the castle ground with a huge, spiraling dome gilded with real silver that ended at an impressive point. The building was used only for important ceremonies and was never to be entered unless it was for maintenance or an event, so one was guaranteed to be alone around it. Especially at the balcony on top of the Dome, it was nearly impossible to sneak up on the ones observing from the balcony; the surrounding landscape was too flat and had nowhere to hide from the eagle's view point.

"Captain General." Jealousy brought her hand up in a rigid salute.

"At ease." She let her hand drop gracefully to her side and she slid into her place at the far edge of the railing; Coen easily leaned against the opening to the stairwell. "You needn't be so stiff with me; I consider us well-acquainted, if not good friends."

"Propriety, Sir," Jealousy murmured, relaxing her stance and toying with her new blade. "I have yet to show you this new _toy_ I picked up—" she pulled out the dagger and handed it to Coen for inspection.

"Interesting; picked it up, you say? No chance that I can commission the master behind this craftsmanship to forge me a nice blade?" Coen playfully commented.

"Not unless you want to go all the way to South City—so I've heard. I simply bought it off of a desperate man in need of gold," Jealousy replied quietly. "I can search for that man and ask whether he can procure more…"

"But there is no need. I will send men to South City." Coen looked at the blade with approval. He handed it back to Jealousy. "Speaking of blades… you know of that awful business in Hylantier—with the Remnoirè family?"

Jealousy blinked, and cocked his head. "The mistress seldom talks of her family to me… nor have I heard news from my homeland since moving here. Why, is something the matter?"

Coen frowned. "Then this must be a surprise—old Judson Remnoirè was found dead in his garden and bedroom."

"…You mean, in _pieces_?"

"Clever you are. I'd rather not say it out loud—grizzly sight to even imagine. Clean job—someone took great care with their sword."

Jealousy swallowed and furrowed her brow. "That… is rather frightening to hear. Rather strange, as well—Master Judson had few enemies, and with the takeover of Hylantier, squabbling over nominal political power would be pointless. Most of the nobles rally behind him, anyhow. There should be no reason for this deed."

"Indeed; it is what I thought. But… perhaps, there is just cause." Coen rubbed his stubble. "I suppose I can trust you _enough_. My cousins have clearly taken Hesfield for their personal soldier." At the sound of 'Hesfield', Jealousy sneered on cue. Coen nodded to himself.

"Yes… well. I think you would have blind and deaf to not know the undercurrents of court. Recently, there has been a section of the court that has expressed more… extreme views on foreign policy."

"But did you not take over Hylantier? I would say that is extreme," Jealousy quipped.

Coen shrugged. "Threaten to take over. You know as well as I do that the political structure of that poor country was on its last legs since a century ago. I can hardly be counted as belligerent."

Jealousy exhaled. "I will agree to disagree. You meant the so-called "Amestrian Loyalist Society". Is it not Jonsten Daellenbach who is the leader?" she added.

Coen grimaced. "That ladder-climbing bastard cousin of mine decided to rally the idiots of Amestrian high society and preach imperialism to them. He's hoping for my position if he can get the King to listen to him."

"Or… if they get rid of the King," Jealousy murmured. Coen raised an eyebrow to her. "Don't tell me you haven't heard them whispering about revolutions and rebellions."

"In any case, Jonsten knows that I'm his biggest opponent on the 'Royalist' side. The Viceroy is ineffectual. My support base can only grow from here on out," Coen said with a smirk. "But if he were to lower the number of my followers… let's say—by killing old Judson Remnoirè to scare them off…"

"What, your followers are _that_ weak-willed?" Jealousy asked, unimpressed. "I would think that he'd do something a little more… devastating."

Coen shrugged. "Maybe he is merely starting this game, trying to slowly work his way up. Asmara was pretty upset with the whole debacle—she said that it was my duty to protect her family; that we were getting married so her family would be safe." He rubbed his forehead. "I just wish she would not say it so bluntly."

Jealousy turned around, eyeing the ground below. "I thought you liked her."

"I do."

"…did her statement bother you?"

"…no—everyone knew it was to be business. I hoped for more—maybe some happiness with that bonus. But right now, I feel damn guilty for not being able to hold up on my end. And all she sees me as is a business partner."

Jealousy cleared her throat. "Women are good at planting guilt bombs and taking what they want from men. Just try not to let it bog you down."

Coen nodded, subdued.

"On the note of Master Remnoirè's death… my _brother_ may be involved. He enjoys grizzly."

Coen frowned. "Does he, now?"

Jealousy gave a well-practiced sneer. "If your conjecture is true, then the one carrying out the order would be brown-nose Hesfield… eager to prove his new ties, so he gives the biggest demonstration possible. I would not have killed the Master; and even if I did, not with the brutality of hacking him into pieces."

"Oh shut up about pieces—I've been having nightmares," Coen moaned. "You owe me a drink now, Somende."

Jealousy grinned. "I'll make good on that—but for now, I have a prior engagement in town."

"The maids will be disappointed," Coen teased. He threw his head back and took a large breath. "I'll see you tonight, then."

"Tonight."

* * *

After her conversation with the Captain General, Jealousy took a horse and rode leisurely into town. She left the horse in a stable nearby the Underground entrance and transformed back into the woman from before. She walked carefully into the shadows and observed the activity in the tunnels before heading into the bar once more.

A couple of stragglers recognized her and whistled. "It's the Dragon. Here for another Spitfire?" Strange that Mathasis's nickname stuck. Jealousy nodded in their direction with acknowledgment. She walked over to the counter and waited for the old bartender to finish conversing with other customer.

"Ah, so the Dragon is back in the lair." She realized that the other customer was Mathasis. The man gave a lazy grin and one arm scratched at the other inked forearm. "I'll be back with Circe and Diano." Mathasis slid off his stool and walked out the door.

The old man gave one look at Jealousy's face and hummed. "It seems tha' ya have a long road ahead, accordin' t' fate. Judging by tha' expectant look on yer face, you've read the paper."

The old man was referring to the short note that was enclosed in the wooden box that Mathasis slipped to her. The note read:_ We have answers. Come back if you would like to hear them._

"Just wondering, barkeep—do all winners receive a box?"

"No. Only those who were in the tournament as a test… and th' ones we've chosen ourselves." The old man seemed to enjoy his job as a cryptic geriatric pest, Jealousy thought.

"So you've _chosen_ me, for I certainly did not decide to take part in this cryptic conspiracy plot. What if _I_ chose to not participate?"

"Then this offer would've disappeared from yer reach forever… or as far as forever can get fer a mere _human_."

Jealousy had nothing else to ask after that. She waited for Mathasis to return. She also did not like the tone in the old man's voice. He was insinuating something… but Jealousy was confident that only Dante, Envy, and she knew the secret of Homunculi.

The bar door swung open with a loud creak that blended in with the noise and laughter of the establishment. The two Dark Ones were trailing after Mathasis, but not like followers to a leader. There was something powerful about those two, Jealousy realized. It was a certain feel in the air that alerted her to this… fact? Or was it mere speculation from an idle mind?

"Now, Dragon, I would like you to meet Circe and Diano," Mathasis introduced with a flourish. Jealousy cocked her head, but nodded respectfully to both separately.

"If we can now be off… my time is doubly precious today," Diano murmured impatiently. Circe nodded towards her companion and beckoned her to follow. Jealousy walked after the two and Mathasis waved in parting to the bartender. "_Ade_, Christofs" The old man only shook his head and smirked as the door to his bar closed with an unobtrusive 'thud'.

"I believe it's time for me to part," Mathasis murmured once the group hit the open streets of West City.

Circe had an air of amusement and the head of the hood bobbed in agreement. "Indeed. I wish you well."

"Let's go," Diano muttered. The two led at a brisker pace until they reached the market square. It was a busy day, making it easy for the three women to blend into the crowd. Both lowered their hoods.

Circe had long, thick hair that was a sandy brown shade. The color was dulled. Her skin was an indeterminable tan and pink blend, the tone of one who enjoyed sunlight often. Her eyes were nondescript brown, hanging over an aquiline nose and thin, pale lips. She wasn't beautiful. No one even looked at her. But perhaps that, Jealousy thought, was the beauty of the woman. She was naturally normal.

Diano was much more elegant in comparison. Her hair was kept up in an elaborate braid of inky black locks. Her skin was an unhealthy pale cream tone and she just stared relentlessly with ice blue eyes. Perfect button nose, sculpted lips turned into a frown—she was the total opposite of her companion.

"May I inquire about our… purpose?" Jealousy delicately worded her actual question. Both of them looked at her but looked past her a second later.

"You may. But we will not answer. Not yet," Circe teased. "Now follow."

Jealousy doggedly trailed them as they twisted sinuously through the crowds. There was almost no sense to their movements. Every once in a while, a stall keeper would look over at them and look to the side. And coincidentally, Diano and Circe would lead Jealousy in the same direction. They slowly circled the market area twice before Circe turned sharply down an alleyway.

The road was paved neatly and the ground was clean enough. There were no drunkards or beggars crouching about. No crumbs on the ground for tiny sparrows to peck at. There even wasn't enough wind for the crooked and faded banners to rock in the air. It was a timeless road.

They quietly stepped under the third archway and the musty wooden door swung open for them. Jealousy quickly realized that it didn't matter which door they walked in—all the buildings were actually linked together behind the façade of doorways.

Diano and Circe watched solemnly as Jealousy stepped into the main foyer, a darkly handsome room comprised of wood. There were other cloaked figures here and there, but none of them turned to face the trio of women. Circe walked ahead of the group up a tall, narrow staircase, beckoning Jealousy to follow.

As far as staircases go, Jealousy never trekked up such a winding and ostensibly unstable structure. The stairs up to the Polycalthus Dome were made of stone, not delicate wrought iron and wooden panels. And how it wound around a thin pillar in such a tiny spiral—if she was still human, the ground floor would undoubtedly be graced with Jealousy's sick.

When they finally reached the top, Jealousy noticed that they were on top of an old watch tower. The stone was worn but there was no moss or natural means of erosion. And the air tingled with something…

They sat silently on protruding structures on top of the tower. Diano and Circe seemed to be waiting for Jealousy to make the first move. And so she did.

"What answers?"

"To what questions?" Circe replied in amusement.

"The note promised answers. I am not sure if I even _have_ questions…"

"But to come means that you have questions. Perhaps, you do not know what to ask… but you still seek answers. And answers contain information, knowledge," Diano impatiently explained. "You have curiosity. And despite not having _questions_, you still sought answers—you sought knowledge."

Jealousy felt annoyed. It was like Diano felt it her right to analyze her, understand her when, really, she did not understand herself! How did she find it proper to _see_ into her?

"Then _what,_ exactly am I looking for?"

Circe smiled kindly and turned away from Jealousy. "Perhaps… Diano, Aquila will be here shortly. You should receive him."

With a curt nod, Diano swept downstairs.

"Now…" Circe's attention was wholly upon Jealousy. "Maybe it is best that I put my cards upon the table for you to feel comfortable enough to do the same."

Jealousy frowned. "I was not aware that I even _held_ any cards." Metaphorical or not.

"You will… in time. Everyone holds cards—some more interesting than others. And I make it a point to collect those _interesting_ cards; but not without trade, of course!"

"Information… for information?" Jealousy bit her lip. "So you are the lead in a chain of informants?"

Circe laughed. "Nothing so _mundane_."

_Informants are mundane?_

With a gentle sweep, Circe gestured to the dimming sunset over West City. "Look at the market place. Look at the roads. And look at the capital. Have you ever wondered _how_ it came to be?"

Jealousy was incredulous. "Creation myths?"

"I swear," the other woman smirked. "Each and every one of your guesses becomes more ridiculous."

"I _mean_… What I mean, Dragon… the subtleties and nuances of human action, and how they carve out histories in this world." Circe looked into the sunset, the light obscuring the expression from her face. "Humans have many things that make them distinct from mere animals. While it seems that there is not a single term that can be used to define our one difference, there _is_ one. We just cannot comprehend it yet.

"But yet… we see all the signs. We have civilizations, much greater than those of the animal kingdom. We have languages, far more expansive than the prowlers of the wild. And our imaginations… thrilling, terrifying, and powerful—human action can leave greater footprints in the sands of time.

"And we know what there is to know. Where each footprint leads." Circe abruptly turned towards Jealousy with a quirky smile. "Mostly, anyhow. But that is what expands this… organization, you may call it. We offer those who have a chance of helping us in this quest for knowledge with free pass into our metaphoric library."

"And now you have me interested." Jealousy leaned forward. There was a strange appeal in the offer. "What is the type of knowledge in possession? Do you deal in fact only?"

"We deal in everything. Most fact is only opinion solidified. You will find that we might even have the most inane of histories, myths, sciences… Of course, all will be offered to you should you accept the price I named."

Jealousy sat back and hummed thoughtfully. She knew what Circe was asking. But would she risk Dante's wrath, maybe even her (and Envy's) existence, over knowledge? What was knowledge to her, anyways? She didn't have a burning desire to know the many dirty secrets of life. It was a curious flame, more like it…

But she knew what she had to give. And there was little that could harm her. She nodded at Circe.

* * *

"Sir!" A royal messenger burst into the court session. "Glenn-Anna Remnoirè—de-dead!"

No one made a sound. Viceroy Daellenbach dropped his wine glass. Asmara slapped Coen in the face and ran off. As the tapping of her footsteps faded into the vast halls, the attendees picked up panicked whispers.

* * *

"Now they just killed an innocent woman. My thrice-damned by the Fates mother-in-law!" Coen nearly threw his clay smoking pipe off the top of the Polycalthus Dome. He paced around, sat down, and put his hands to his head in frustrated confusion.

"And did they not just send a letter to the King? 'Changes need to be made to the Army' indeed…" Jealousy murmured. "Hesfield had been unceasingly cheerful lately. Quite unnerving."

"Quite."

Jealousy was leaning on the railing, permitting Coen to gather his thoughts. She poured herself a glass of Amestrian Ice Wine. She didn't bother to pour any for Coen because Coen either drank or smoked, but not at the same time—she only drank but didn't smoke, ever.

"Tell me your thoughts," Coen requested quietly as he took a steady breath from his pipe.

"About?"

"What do you think Jonsten is planning?"

"Ah."

Jealousy let the liquid swirl around her cup before she slowly sipped it. Sharp, ephemeral sweetness drifted past her tongue. If she was maudlin, she'd say it represented life.

"Did your supporters try to delay the letter?"

"Most, but not as much as I thought would. I have not been in contact with two key supporters since—well." He took another breath. "They are scaring them away."

Jealousy nodded. "If it _is_ Jonsten… he would be saying, 'I can touch what is under the Captain General's protection. My reach is far greater. Which side will you choose?'"

"It is as I thought." Coen stood up to lean on the railing next to Jealousy. "He wants to start a political civil war with me. He should _know_ that the only way to pry _Captain General_ from me is to do so from my decaying corpse. The King knows he cannot keep Amestris safe if he suddenly switches to someone else. It would only hint at internal turmoil."

Jealousy nodded in agreement. "Drachma has not been too comfortable with Amestris lately. Does his Majesty want—"

"No one knows what the King wants right now beyond stability. Hylantier was a boon—had to be said," he smirked at Jealousy's frown. "—but any more movement from us will be taken as a sign to put us down."

Jealousy softened her expression. "Then you must sniff out everyone involved in this charade before it threatens stability," she intoned softly, drinking the rest of her wine solemnly.

* * *

"I see you've replaced me."

"Oh? I'm Jealousy,and you're _Envy_. You're replacing me if you keep acting like that."

Envy snorted.

Envy and she were standing on the rooftop of the palace. They had to iron out a few details to their plans, alongside enjoying some sibling bonding time.

"I've picked up a dictionary before. Why are you talking politics with our _target?_ Talk with _me_! Don't you know how bored I am?"

Jealousy smirked. "I don't have enough space in my heart for both of you, let alone even _one_ of you."

Envy scowled and shoved her violently. "Jonsten is pleased with progress. The _Witch_ is, too. But neither of them is really after Coen, I think."

"What makes you think that?"

"Why won't they just kill him and be done with it, then?"

Envy had a good point.

"Because… Dante likes games? And so does Jonsten?"

"No. It's because they're trying to maneuver Coen. It's not like I'll be ruining any plans—I just wonder why Dante has to lord it over us that she's not doing what she told us she was doing."

Jealousy bit her lip thoughtfully. "No, now you have it wrong. She never _told_ us what she wanted. Besides breaking up the Daellenbach Family. But it's already pretty broken, if I do say so myself."

"And you do." Envy raised an eyebrow. "Maybe she wants chaos for the sake of chaos?"

"She's not brain-dead and violent—she's smart and violent. Get it right!"

"Well, _I_ want chaos for the sake of chaos." He sat down on the edge of the shingles.

Jealousy sat down, as well. "That's all that should matter right now."

They watched the world change in minuscule increments from their unchanging eyes.

* * *

"—Brentano, the foreign officer… I heard he was executed for treason."

"Was he not Jonsten's friend?"

"The Captain General knew of what proved him a traitor, and few others—"

From a tall balcony on top of a dome, Coen and Jealousy tapped wine glasses together.

* * *

It continued for seven years. Escalation of killings until the King announced his royal presence in West City. So the two factions took a break, only for a short while...

Jealousy didn't just do other people's dirty work for seven years; she had her fair share of 'work', too.

Circe's circle of friends, a loose network organization she termed 'the Society on Societies' (Circe liked to be informative. And blunter than most Society members—though this meant that she was too damned cryptic for an average human being) listed several seemingly innocuous men and women throughout the continent who were supposedly geniuses at forbidden alchemy. How Circe knew what Jealousy barely knew what she wanted was a whole mystery within itself, never to be solved.

In return, Jealousy told Circe about the only two alchemists she had ever known personally: Hohenheim and Dante. She spoke of the cornucopia of notes that her father left behind, contacts, and subfields of study. She also spoke of the heinous experiments she witnessed from Dante, the goals, and twisted schemes. Jealousy mentioned the Philosopher's Stone in passing.

Diano returned after the first few times that Circe and Jealousy met up. She did not seem as impatient anymore, only curious and more inquiring than Circe. She opened up about the history of Amestris—the true lineage of the royalty, how one scandal in the royal kitchens actually resulted in a changeling and a false line in today's royalty, and what the Great Purge of Kristian really was. Jealousy learned of the Society's links to the great events in history, in scientific discovery, and in great tragedies.

"One thing you will never learn is why the Society came into existence. That is something no one will ever learn." Jealousy didn't bother to fall prey to the various meanings in that phrase alone.

But Jealousy's personal business with the Society on Societies turned dirty soon enough. She learned that the Society liked to experiment, but their projects were done on actual civilizations. Vast manipulations, assassinations, friendships and ties, betrayals—all done in the name of learning. So when Jealousy sought for one more name, the one man Circe and Diano hinted that knew about and suffered through Human Transmutation, they gave her a deal.

She had to kill the King of Amestris and present Hohenheim's book of contacts to them.

Dante ordered Jealousy to do the same the very next day.

Jealousy took it as a sign, and proceeded to throw country into a state of turmoil and darkness.

What was her next move?

* * *

A/N: I haven't touched this story for a good while. I have also reworked a couple parts of the plot and as a result, I feel that this chapter is rather disjointed and rushed. But I really didn't like this chapter either way. It was just one that had to be written. And so, I'm back. :)


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